Wherwell Primary School woodland project wins 'Countryside & Design Award'

Wherwell Primary School in the Test Valley area has been awarded a 2009 'Countryside & Design Award' by the Campaign to Protect Rural England for its 'Woodland Project'.

The school's Woodland Project began in 2007 with parents, volunteers and children helping to clear a 1.5 acre site adjacent to the school grounds. The overall objective of the project was to create a natural resource for the children to use in all aspects of their learning. They have built an otter holt, created nature zones to encourage wildlife and improved access to the site. The woodland project is now a key element of each class's weekly timetable, with children undertaking activities related to a wide range of subject areas. Activities include observational drawing, natural sculptures, pond dipping and bug hunting. The project is now an invaluable learning resource for the school.

Andrew King, Headteacher of Wherwell Primary School said:

"This is a wonderful project, and has brought together many parts of the community. The children are getting so much out of this fabulous resource."

CPRE Hampshire has also announced seven other award winners from around Hampshire in its categories of schools, voluntary/community, and public sector/business. They include Hampshire Fare for its free-range egg scheme and the Hampshire Food Festival and the Reema housing redevelopment. Buriton Parish received CPRE Hampshire's first ever 'Outstanding Achievement' award for the community's creation of a successful Local Plan.

CPRE conceived these awards to highlight the amount of environmental work carried out by the local Hampshire community. Becky French from CPRE Hampshire said:

"We feel that it is really important to promote and reward local projects that show good environmental practice. Hopefully this will encourage more projects that will enhance our Hampshire environment. CPRE has been particularly impressed by both the quality and diversity of this year's entries. We have awarded a range of projects, from very different organisations and groups and we feel this really shows the environmental commitment of our Hampshire community. We look forward to receiving applications for the 2009/ 2010 awards."

Inviting entries for 2010

CPRE Hampshire's Countryside and Design Awards scheme is to be run annually and is now open for the next round of entries, with a closing date of 21st March 2010. If you know of a project which you feel may be suitable for an award please visit: www.cprehampshire.org.uk/news/awards.html or contact 01962 843655 for further details.

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CPRE/H/171

Notes to editors

CPRE Hampshire strives to promote the beauty, tranquility and diversity of the countryside of Hampshire by the sustainable use of land and other resources in town and country, and encouraging the biodiversity and well-being of rural communities.

The CPRE Hampshire Countryside & Design Awards were set up to reward people who are working to enhance Hampshire's environment and to highlight the importance of good environmental practice. There are three categories:

• Schools - encouraging the use of landscape as an opportunity for learning, a high level of pupil involvement is one of its criteria.
• Voluntary/community - highlighting environmental conservation or restoration within the rural or urban environment and evidence of strong links to the local community.
• Public sector/ business - involving projects that show tangible progress towards tackling one or more of the core CPRE issues.

For information on CPRE, please contact:
Becky French or Pam Mason, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01962 843655
Email:admin@cprehampshire.org.uk

For all media enquiries, please contact:
Keren Burney, media & communications officer, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01730 894123   Mobile: 07876 780065
Email: kburney000@aol.com

© Copyright. CPRE Hampshire, 2009. All Rights Reserved.