Lutley primary school from Halesowen was the winning school for 2009. The competition challenges schools to find new and inventive ways of raising awareness of the environment and of the need for sustainable energy sources.
The winning project was created by 30 pupils aged between nine and 11, who created an oasis in their school ground. The project has been going since 2007 when the children planted a vegetable garden which meant they were able to share the produce with fellow classmates. This then led to them receiving a grant which enabled them to build an outdoor classroom made from homemade bricks using a mixture of clay and straw. The children have also created their very own wildlife garden with a pond and painted trees.
The school received their award at the national final held in London Zoo. Speaking at the event Michael Absalom said: ‘I’m thrilled to be a part of these amazing awards and it’s great to see the enthusiasm demonstrated by the quality of the schools’ projects. The pupils are clearly very aware of the environment around them and have submitted some really inspired projects.’
Mrs Cox, a teacher at Lutley Primary School said: ‘The children were over the moon to make it to the final, but to actually win the National 2009 TOTAL Green School Awards is just fantastic. The children work very hard on their ‘Super School Ground’, alongside many other eco projects, and are extremely excited about the environment adventure trip.’
This year’s awards were run by Young People’s Trust for the Environment and received 341 entries from 17,500 school children within the seven to 11 age group.
YPTE Director, Peter Littlewood, commented: ‘After three years of the awards, it is still brilliant to see some of the fantastic ideas young people around the country have come up with. The quality of the entries this year made it extremely hard to choose the winners, but the ‘Super School Grounds’ project from the Lutley Primary School pupils was just inspirational and the pupils thoroughly deserve the prize.’
