THE excitement in the playground reached fever pitch as the Navy helicopter touched down on the playing field at Baden Powell School in Poole.

Judging by the applause and the number of times pupils said "cool" this was going to be a highly successful and very popular project - after all it's not every day the armed forces help students with their school work.

This visit from the Royal Navy in April marked the start of a project called Land, Sea and Air 2008 - work from which was showcased in an exhibition at Longfleet Combined School in Poole.

It was part of a three-month Cultural Hub arts and humanities project for gifted and talented students, and involved four schools in Poole.

"Each school was given the title Land, Sea and Air and then it was up to them to write their own project that covered the title," explained Zoe Buttling, project manager.

Baden Powell and St Peter's in Poole chose to base their projects around the River Piddle.

They focused on how the river had changed over the years and what life it was supporting along its journey from the source to the sea.

This is where the Royal Navy stepped into help.

"The crew navigated and filmed their way along the river so the children could create a DVD of the whole experience," said Zoe.

At Longfleet School, students focused on the Jurassic Coastline as a World Heritage Site and the physical and human features of its landscape.

"Children used digital cameras to record still and moving images from a variety of viewpoints," said Zoe.

"They used software to manipulate and personalise their images in order to express their responses to this remarkable environment.

Longfleet's project took them to Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Poole Harbour and Old Harry Rocks.

"They absolutely loved it," said teacher Caroline Slark.

"The children have begun to look differently at what's around them."

St Joseph's School's take on the project saw dinosaurs and fossils become the focus of their studies.

Students travelled along the stunning Jurassic coastline hunting for fossils with experts from Charmouth Heritage Centre.

They had first-hand experience with the collections at Dorchester Museum.

The children then headed back to school to interpret what they found for art work.

The final school, St Mary's, dedicated a week to Land, Sea and Air, which took them to Brownsea Island to perform an arts, music and drama piece.

Ninety children collaborated with artists and musicians to create the performance, which was inspired by the stories and wildlife found on the island.

Although the government-funded Cultural Hub project has come to an end, all involved deemed it a huge success.

"The legacy of cultural hub is the connections the project has made between the schools, arts institutions and the teachers," explained spokesperson Ros Fry. "They've all worked so effectively together that further projects can happen independently."