OVO Foundation Nature Prize
2024 Winners
In autumn 2023, Let’s Go Zero invited school staff and students to win funding to create fantastic, inspirational projects that inspire climate action through connections to nature.
Schools just had to tell us how they would use a prize of £1,000 or £200 to bring their students closer to the natural world. The competition is supported by OVO Foundation.
We are thrilled to announce the 25 winners of our 2024 nature prize! After receiving an overwhelming number of entries from across the country, our judges have selected the most inspiring and creative entries that have the power to inspire young people and the wider school community.
Dathlu 25 o enillwyr
Edrychwch ar ein map i weld enillwyr Gwobr OVO Foundation sy’n gweithredu ar yr hinsawdd trwy natur.
Enillwyr y Wobr o £1000
The kitchen garden
sensory retreat
As an urban school with no greenery, St Martin’s CE Primary and Nursery School, Hove want to develop their small outside space into a kitchen garden and sensory retreat. With the prize money, they will buy gardening equipment so students and families can take over garden management, inspiring the school community to become change-makers.
The hands on learning pond
Members of the student parliament at Beamont Collegiate Academy, Warrington want to establish a dedicated growing area and pond to enhance nature and biodiversity on the school site. Their new green spaces will provide hands-on learning experiences for students, and will help the school to foster a sustainable, biodiverse and inclusive learning environment.
wildlife garden
Situated on one of Sheffield’s most polluted roads, Nether Edge Primary School, Sheffield want to create a wildlife friendly garden in their concrete playground. The garden will include a sensory garden, filled with drought-resistant plants, and a shaded reading corner filled with plants to help reduce the effects of pollution and extreme heat.
veg-growing garden
Students and staff at Furrowfield Ysgol, Gateshead, which is i Mocial, Emotional ac Mental Health (SEMH) specialist provisioner, plan to install raised beds for students to learn how to grow their own food. They will also build borders filled with wildflowers and sensory plants, supporting biodiversity and creating a calm garden for students to reset and relax in.
The horticulture curriculum training project
To help embed horticultural skills into the curriculum and foster a love of nature among its students, St Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School, Liverpool, with their local partner reShaped, are going to run horticultural workshops for all teachers. They will also run the RHS School Garden certificates programme and host a whole-school inter-class growing competition.
allotment partnership
Brand new, inclusive i Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) school, The Promise School, Okehampton, plans to develop a school allotment in partnership with local community groups. Fruit and veg grown onsite will be used in lessons and given out to families, whilst students will take an active role in building the allotment structure
The rewilding project
As part of its 40th birthday celebrations, Combs Ford Primary School, Suffolk is working with the local community to rewild the site and will use the prize money to buy equipment and plants to create resilient and diverse habitats for local wildlife. As part of a Multi Academy Trust, they hope to inspire their sister schools to follow suit and rewild their own sites.
The community food polytunnel
To help reduce food waste and miles, William Morris Primary School, Mitcham plans to develop its growing area and will use the prize money to buy a polytunnel for community fruit and veg growing. Students are eager to make sure the space is for outdoor learning, as well as food growing, and there are plans to give every class timetabled sessions to spend time learning in and enjoying the space.
The multi–sensory foredt school
Oasis Academy John Williams, Bristol plans to build an outdoor, multi-sensory site for Special Educational Needs ac Disabilities students to take part in forest school activities, supporting student mental health and wellbeing. They will also develop a dedicated growing space, distributing fresh produce to vulnerable families and creating a space for the community to learn about healthy eating and skills for food growing.
The empty land community garden
With very little green space onsite, a local business has given Adelaide School, Crewe permission to transform an unused piece of land next to the school into a thriving community garden. Pupils have taken charge of the project, researching ways to re-wild the space to encourage as much wildlife and biodiversity as possible.
Enillwyr y Wobr o £200
The sensory path project
Students have helped design the new sensory path at Lower Meadow Primary Academy, Sheffield they will create with their prize money. The path will form part of the school’s sensory garden, a calm space to help students manage the demands of the school day.
The recycling rainwater project
In an effort to reduce their water use, staff at Rose Hill Primary School, Stockport, plan to buy water butts for use in their forest school. The recycled rainwater will be used to water plants and saplings and will enable students to make full use of the mud kitchen.
The wormery learning centre
Members of the pupil parliament at Christ Church CEP Academy, Folkestone have decided on a wormery for the school’s community garden, helping to cut down their food and garden waste and providing a great onsite learning resource
The carehome partnership garden
The prize money will go towards the creation of a school garden for Lexden Primary School, Colchester, which every class will be responsible for maintaining. Members from the local care home will support students to get the garden up and running.
The seedlings and no–dig community workshop
With the prize money, staff and students at St Peter-in-Thanet CE Junior School, Broadstairs plan to hold a Spring Seedling event for the local community. Students will show attendees how to create a simple, no-dig garden in a small space, and give out seedlings they’ve sown in class.
The Highland polytunnel project
As part of Grantown Grammar School, Grantown on Spey’s ‘Grow Your Own’ project, the prize money will be put towards the construction of a polytunnel so students can grow produce outside of the short Highland growing season.
The hedgehog homes project
After the initial success of their gardening club, launched in 2022, students at Mortimer Community College, South Shields want to grow their efforts to improve onsite biodiversity and help local wildlife with the addition of hedgehog homes and bird boxes.
The pond-boosting project
The prize money will be used to improve Frome College, Frome’s onsite pond. Indigenous pond plants will be bought to help oxygenate the pond and improve biodiversity, creating an invaluable teaching resource that will be used across the curriculum.
The food waste wormery
To encourage outdoor play and nature-connection, Kingswood Nursery School, Watford plans to install a willow dome on their site, alongside a wormery to help reduce food and garden waste. Students and their families will take part in building the structure, and community members will be encouraged to feed their own waste to the worms.
The wasteland rewilding project
As part of the school’s Eco Schools’ review and action planning, pupils at Banton Primary School, Kilsyth have decided to target biodiversity and will use the money to redevelop a run-down area on the school site into a wildlife and planting space.
The grow your own food bank
The prize money will be used to develop a food bank at Rowley Hall Primary School, Rowley Regis, to support disadvantaged families and those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. To help increase the volume and variety of food grown onsite, they will invest in a polytunnel, and the produce will be delivered to local families by students.
Wildflower seedbombing community workshops
After researching the impact wildflower meadows can have on carbon offsetting, students at Mt Margaret’s CEVA Primary School, Yeovil were inspired to create their own. Alongside this, they will use the prize money to deliver community workshops where students will teach participants to make wildflower seed-bombs for their own gardens.
The connecting to food workshops
As part of the school’s ‘Grow a Meal’ project, which aims to develop an emotional connection with how plants grow and support us, Cayley Primary School, London will put the prize money towards creative workshops for students and their families. They will learn about every stage of the food growing process, through practical activities, art, and storytelling.
The nature bench project
With no greenery on the school site, Ellacombe CofE Academy, Torquay will use the prize money to create a nature bench – a quiet, green area for students and a pocket habitat for wildlife. Students will be involved in choosing local plants and planting them in the bench.
recycled shelterd
Currently lacking in sheltered spaces to protect students from both hot and cold weather, Ysgol Clywedog, Wrexham plans to build a number of green shelters around the school. They will use recycled materials to construct the shelters, and plant each roof with wildflowers, native plants, and mosses.
Cymraeg 
English (UK)