Schools’ £1K OVO Foundation Nature Prize back for second round

Students with great green ideas can win up to £1,000 to create school nature spaces, for the second year running.  The OVO Foundation Nature Prize, run in partnership with Let’s Go Zero, is giving away up to £1,000 for schools to kickstart a community nature project. Winners will bring to life a wild and wonderful space packed with learning opportunities.

The competition, launched in spring 2023, supports schools, particularly those in less advantaged areas, to boost students’ access to nature, encourage biodiversity in their school grounds, and take climate action. There are 25 prizes available: 10 prizes of £1,000 and 15 prizes of £200, giving schools plenty of chances to win.

With nearly 200 entries from around the UK last round, ideas ranged from sensory gardens to biodiversity workshops for the local community. Judges were impressed with the huge variety of projects proposed by the schools, and the creative ideas on display.

Hannah Howard, Head of OVO Foundation, said: "We were so impressed by the creativity of the Nature Prize entries last year, with students and teachers working together to develop new and impactful nature projects for their schools. It has been truly inspiring to see them come to life over the last few months. From creating a habitat for red squirrels to developing allotments for fresh vegetables, each winning idea brings nature into school grounds and kickstarts climate action where it's most needed. We can't wait for round two!"

Since winning the prize money, schools have been busy making their plans come true and engaging with students, families and local communities. Read on to be inspired by some of the fantastic winning projects and how schools are bringing students closer to nature.

£1,000 Winners

Djanogly Sherwood Academy, Nottingham

Students at this urban primary school in Nottingham came up with the idea to install a hydroponic growing system in the playground so they could grow their own food. With no green space on the school site, they researched the possibilities of growing produce without soil. Through their own research, they found HydroVeg, a local business that not only builds cultivation kits out of recycled materials, but offers educational packs and classroom sessions to help students learn about growing and nutrition. The school organised a celebratory installation day where students met HydroVeg Kits’ founder, Sue Tonks, and were taught how to use and look after the kits, alongside other activities that included making art with recycled materials.

Students from the school’s eco and well-being groups are in charge of maintaining the veg kits as well as deciding which seasonal food to grow.  Once the produce is ready to be harvested, the students plan to give it out to families in need, ensuring access to healthy food across the school community. The HydroVeg Kits have also been embedded into the school’s curriculum, with all students across the school getting the chance to use them during their science lessons.

Ysgol Tycroes, Ammanford

This Welsh primary school won a £1,000 prize with their idea to create a working vegetable garden and outdoor learning area. Wanting to increase opportunities for student nature connection, particularly for those with trauma and Special Educational Needs, they have created a thriving outdoor classroom and growing area. The school has bought a 15-foot polytunnel with the prize money and each class now has a weekly timetabled slot to visit it, learning gardening skills and cultivating the plants.  As well as a space for plants, the polytunnel will also double as an outdoor classroom, where students can learn no matter what the weather.

Next steps for the garden include opening it up to local community members, including the residents of a local care home who will be able to come in and work alongside the students, sharing their own knowledge and skills and fostering inter-generational connection.

 

£200 Winners

Northfleet Technology College, Gravesend

This boys’ secondary school in Kent won a Nature Prize with their idea to create their own on-site apiary. Students have helped to plan the development of the apiary, with forest school students helping to install safety barriers made from recycled hazel staves around the hives. A small group of students are now training to become junior beekeepers with The British Beekeepers Association, which will come to the school and deliver the training onsite.

As the bee population grows and splits into more hives, the school has plans to assign hives to various local primary schools. Although the bees will be kept in Northfleet’s nature reserve, there will be an open-door policy so primary schools can visit their hives to learn about the bees and help look after them. Staff at the school would eventually like to open the nature area to other community groups, including a local hospice, so as many people as possible can visit the site, learn about bees, and connect with nature. 

Falinge Park High School, Rochdale

Students at Falinge Park High School won a Nature Prize to run nature-based workshops for local primary schools and community members using upcycled materials. The school is running a big project on moss and how it can help to tackle climate change. As part of researching moss and its different uses, students came up with the idea to make moss terrariums out of upcycled jam jars and moss collected from around the school site. Their hope was to spread the word about moss's various uses and how it can be used to help the planet through its ability to purify air, absorb rainwater and help soil to take in carbon. 

The first workshop was at the ‘Great Science Share’, where a group of students from Falinge Park ran workshops for eight local primary schools. As well as creating their own terrariums, students were able to get up close and personal with some moss samples with a handheld microscope purchased with money from the Nature Prize. Moss is often viewed as a nuisance, so students want to be part of changing people’s attitudes towards it, while the handheld microscope will be loaned out to local primary schools, so they can use it to explore nature and biodiversity around their own school sites.

Image: Students from Falinge Park High School, Rochdale, teach primary students to make moss terrariums at the ‘Great Science Share'.

Second round of Nature Prize now open

Both Let’s Go Zero and OVO Foundation hope that last year’s winners will inspire even more schools to dream up their own nature projects and apply for the second round of the Nature Prize. Schools have shown just how creative they can be and how even small pots of money can help bring students closer to nature. If schools are taking part in the Natural History Museum’s Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards, the OVO Foundation Nature Prize is a great first step for schools looking to increase nature and biodiversity on their school grounds and ignite students’ passion for climate action.

Applications for the OVO Foundation Nature Prize are now open and close on Monday 27 November. Apply here.

Image: The Apiary at Northfleet Technology College, Gravesend