Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School in Harrogate has been named as one of six runners-up in a nationwide contest for primary schools to design a canal-inspired habitat garden.
With half the children in the country living within a few miles of a Canal & River Trust waterway, the competition, run by the waterways charity, invited schools to think about canal wildlife and nature as part of their studies.
As runners-up in the competition, Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School has won a variety of habitat homes to encourage wildlife into their school grounds. The bundle of prizes worth £500, includes camera traps, a nest box with webcam, hedgehog shelter, solar powered insect study centre, bat boxes, butterfly biome and lots of study guides and learning resources.
Emily Fulda, from the Canal & River Trust, visited the school to deliver the prizes and commented:
Bishop Monkton School’s garden design is fantastic and is a real credit to all the children who contributed. Because we’ve been supported in the project by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, I’m delighted to be able to present some excellent prizes which will help encourage wildlife into the school grounds.
As a charity, one of our aims is to encourage children and their families to visit and enjoy their local canal or river. The waterways can be a really important place to get close to nature, with ducks, swans, dragonflies and many other much-loved species. Whether children and their parents are visiting to see the wildlife, to run, canoe or just to go for a walk, we know that being by the water, near wildlife and out in the fresh air makes people healthier and happier.
Bishop Monkton School’s design in the Corridor for Nature competition, considered six key canal habitats: hedgerows and trees, grassland or towpaths, open water, wet fringe, the canal bank and buildings. They were runners-up from hundreds of entries across England & Wales. Grewelthorpe C of E Primary School in Ripon was selected from hundreds of entries to as winner of the inaugural national competition.
Clara Govier, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said:
We’re delighted to support this fantastic project. The children have produced some amazing work, so huge congratulations to them and their teachers for a job well done.
For more information on the Canal & River Trust including how you can volunteer, donate or book a free school visit from one of the Trust’s education volunteers, visit canalrivertrust.org.uk
