This spring, Let’s Go Zero – the national campaign for zero carbon schools – has been helping school staff and students create fantastic, inspirational projects that inspire climate action through a connection 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 nature. The competition is supported by OVO Foundation.
We are thrilled to announce the 25 winners of our 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.
Apply now for the second round of applications.
Celebrating 25 winners
£1000 Prize Winners
Djanogly Sherwood Academy is investing in hydro-veg kits for the school playground. These will be looked after by the school’s green team and the produce will be given to students and their families.
The student Eco-Team at Downsview Primary School plan to develop a nature trail in the school grounds to help support local wildlife and connect the school and community with nature.
North Herts Education Centre, a pupil referral unit, will use the prize money to develop an allotment area so students can grow their own vegetables which they will then use in cookery lessons and to provide a healthy school dinner menu.
Students at Northfield School and Sports College plan to create a welcoming sensory garden, enhancing nature-connection amongst students and providing a quiet, contemplative space to support physical and mental wellbeing.
Norton Free C of E school are planning on using the prize money to create a pond on the school grounds, giving the students an exciting outdoor learning space whilst improving wildlife and biodiversity.
Primary 7 students at Our Lady of Peace primary school want to create and run an inclusive gardening club and will use the prize money to buy equipment and supplies.
The Featherstone Academy plans to create a community garden that can be used as a hands-on learning tool, teaching students about ecology and how to grow fruit and vegetables sustainably.
The prize money will fund a school garden where students can learn about growing food and native species will be re-introduced, increasing crop resilience and creating new habitats for wildlife.
£200 Prize Winners
To bring students closer to nature and involve them in planting fruit, vegetables and other plants, Ballyholme Primary School will use the prize money to buy age-appropriate gardening equipment and some pollinator-friendly wildflower seeds.
Darley Dale Primary School plan to buy an apple press so the students can make apple juice from the school’s apple trees. Students will bring their own bottles and sell the juice to members of the local community, with profits going to the school’s ‘Seed to Plate’ scheme
Falinge Park High School plan to run a series of workshops using upcycled materials to create planters, bug houses and bird feeders for local families, as well as providing them with seeds and bulbs to take home and plant.
Lockerbie Learning Centre is going to develop a wheelchair accessible planting area to allow students to grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Students and staff at Northfleet Technology College have already raised funds for an apiary and will use the Nature Prize money to buy a starter colony which students will be trained to look after.
The Polygon School will turn an area of the school grounds into a nature reserve, planted with wildflowers to encourage bees and increase outdoor learning opportunities for the students.
Students at Rosehall Primary School are hoping to help increase the local red squirrel population by creating a designated small area for them on the school grounds.
Simon Langton Girls’ School are going to launch biodiversity inspiration days where local primary schools will be invited to the school to take part in workshops where they can build their own bug boxes and composting baskets.
The prize money will be used to run a stall at the yearly summer fair where students and their families can learn how to make their own window boxes and planters with upcycled materials.
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