A selection of students from five west London schools got the chance of a lifetime to get creative and design a rugby kit for their schools for generations to come – all at the home of England rugby.

Pupils from the schools – Hammersmith Academy, Chiswick School, Phoenix Academy, Woodlane High School and West London Free School - attended a special workshop at Twickenham on October 3 to craft a design for kits that will be worn by their fellow students.

England internationals Ellis Genge and Abbie Scott also lent a hand to the pupils, who received tips and ideas from design experts.

The day was part of the CBRE All Schools programme, aimed at promoting rugby values to increase the amount of rugby in Britain’s schools, with the target of 750 state institutions by the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The designs were signed off and will now be produced into kits for the schools to wear in matches going forward.

The schools are five of 70 taking part in a series of these October workshops, and Head of Boys PE at West London Free School, Aaron Hudson, hopes that the trip to Twickenham will prove a formative experience for his students.

"It’s unbelievable – none of them have been here before and this is the first year in about six years where the school have started to play rugby, so they have only been doing it for about two or three weeks now,” he said.

"It faded out a little bit as we’ve moved sites, but now we’ve got a great opportunity to have the England guys come in and coach and it was nice for us as staff to step back and watch them and learn from them too.

"I’ve been asked to report back every day with photos which will go on the school announcement – everyone is aware we’re here and designing the kit – there’s quite a lot of publicity behind it.

"I hope there will be a bit more buzz around rugby at the school – it’s a new sport, we’ve introduced it to year 7s and 8s and hopefully it might filter through to the rest of the years.

“That buzz, the fact there’s a team, hopefully when they see the new kit they’ll want to put the shirt on and represent the school and take it further."

The CBRE All Schools programme was launched in 2012 with the hope of channelling rugby’s core values into a positive legacy for one million schoolchildren.

The design workshop was staged by Canterbury, who will unveil the finished kits for the schools at Twickenham on March 9, after England’s clash against Italy in the 2019 Six Nations.

And England international Genge believes the chance for students to create a tangible legacy for years to come will peak a sustained interest in the sport.

“I really enjoyed it. I went to a state school, and we didn’t really get many opportunities for things like this, so I just like being involved to be honest,” said the Leicester Tigers prop.

“It’s important to get exposed to rugby early on, and I just think it’s a good opportunity for the kids to make their own kits and have a bit of fun.”

England Women international Scott added: “It’s great to be involved and see these kids’ imaginations run wild.

“The All Schools project is great because kids can design their own shirt and from speaking to a few of the kids, they’re hoping it will get a few people at the schools interested and playing and thinking ‘that’s a nice kit, I’d like to wear that kit and I’d like to play rugby’.

“It’s about growing participation in rugby and it’s a great project.”

CBRE All Schools supported by Canterbury is one of the RFU’s key legacy programmes, set up to increase the number of state secondary schools playing rugby union in England. Visit www.englandrugby.com/allschools to find out more.