SCHOOLCHILDREN will be too young to remember but it might not stop them going Crackerjack crazy when Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart drops in.

The former presenter of the popular children’s show in the 1970s and veteran radio broadcaster is visiting Westfield Arts College in Weymouth tomorrow as it launches its new student and community radio station Air.

Mr Stewart is visiting to present a brand new Sunshine minibus on behalf of the Variety Club children’s charity and it is expected he will tour the station and make his own contribution on the microphone.

A number of celebrities have pre-recorded their own ‘good luck’ messages for Air including TV personalities Jonathan Ross, Lorraine Kelly and Carol Vorderman, as well as Radio 2 favourite Chris Evans.

ICT teaching assistant Sarah Bungay said staff and students were thrilled with the contributions and are delighted that Stewpot is visiting.

She said a big balloon release at midday will launch the station – available online at aironair.co.uk The arts college, in Littlemoor Road, caters for children with moderate learning difficulties.

Air will broadcast all day every day on the internet but the studio has been built in such a way that it can be hooked up to a transmitter so it can broadcast on FM in future.

It will be mainly music based to start with but will feature interviews, local features and community contributions as it develops with input from students, other schools and groups.

The purpose-built studios come complete with a ‘green room’ and state-of-the art equipment.

Local DJ and media expert Carl Greenham has been employed specially to help get the project up and running.

He said: “A classroom was gutted so we could build the studios as well as a kitchen and toilet.

“We’ve really broken the mould of school radio because of the professional equipment we have and our community focus and vision.

“They’re professional studios so if the students want to go into the industry they will have the skills and the knowhow.”

Headteacher Andrew Penman is a champion of radio in education and when he took over at the school he was keen Westfield applied for some government funding and got in on the act.

He said it had long been recognised that radio in schools improved the speaking and listening skills of young people.

Mr Penman added: “We are hoping that the station will bring our pupils many benefits and opportunities; the development of their speaking and listening skills, improved self confidence and, in time, accredited qualifications in radio broadcasting.

“A significant part of our hopes for the station is that it should provide a forum for our pupils to work together with their peers from mainstream schools.”

• Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart became one of the first DJs to join Radio One back in 1967.

He presented the Junior Choice show for 12 years, reaching a peak of 17 million listeners.

He also featured on television, presented Top of the Pops before joining the cult children’s programme Crackerjack in the 1970s.

Stewart left Crackerjack in 1979 and the following year he made the move to Radio 2 to present his Family Favourites weekday afternoon show.

After spending six years with commercial radio station Radio Mercury, Stewart returned to Radio 2 in 1991. He retired in April 2006 but still presents the odd Junior Choice.