Portland wins nature prize in nationwide competition
Co-op Academy Portland was one of just 25 schools across the UK to win the Nature Prize, run by Let's Go Zero and the OVO Foundation.
The prize recognises schools that engage students with nature and support wider communities in climate action.
The academy was awarded £200 to fund its project, which involves hosting a series of workshops to teach families gardening skills and how to transform grey spaces into green ones using everyday objects to make seed bombs and window boxes.
Head of School Shaun Leathers is delighted with the hard work of the school’s Eco Champions Ms Barr and Ms Charlesworth who lead on green initiatives in the school.
“As a school, we are keen to involve our entire community in our Eco work, especially because our site is in a very industrial area with little green space for our families to enjoy. We would love to be able to show our families how they can grow and develop their own gardens (even if the space they have available is limited or lacking greenery).
Our next step is to enhance the education of our families and complete small workshops in which parents/carers can spend time with their children learning new gardening skills. We will be showing families how to recycle everyday objects to turn spaces from grey to green. Our children have noted the mental benefits of being outdoors and we aim to include their families in this experience.
We hope to have a sensory garden set up with members of our Eco Council supporting sessions during break and lunch times so that children have purposeful and positive experiences during unstructured times of the day.”
Alex Green, head of the Let's Go Zero campaign, said: "These 25 schools have put forward incredible plans to boost the biodiversity in their schools and make sure students have beautiful places to learn, connect with nature and share with their communities.
"We were so impressed by their plans and enthusiasm and hope they inspire other schools to do the same."
Winning schools are located in Newcastle, Blackpool, West Yorkshire, Wirral, and Manchester and money has been awarded to projects involving food growing, community collaboration, and outdoor learning.
The projects help schools create biodiverse-rich environments for students to learn from and connect with nature.
Did you see us in the Wirral Globe? Wirral school wins nature prize in nationwide competition