Is your school a cut above the rest?

Schools across the South East, and from London boroughs south of the River Thames, are being urged to take part in the country’s premier forestry competition – whether or not they have trees on their grounds.

The Excellence in Forestry Awards 2010, run by the Royal Forestry Society, opens its doors for entries this month (January). As well as London boroughs south of the Thames, the competition covers West and East Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

RFS Competition Co-ordinator, Trefor Thompson, said: “Schools do not need to own or manage their own woodlands to take part. There is a huge variety of work being undertaken in primary and secondary schools across the curriculum, in the form of classroom projects, art work, story telling or in hands-on field study work, relating to the very many different aspects of woodland management and to the uses that wood can play in our lives. This is an opportunity for schools to showcase the work of their teachers and their pupils, and to develop stronger links to forestry and woodland management.”

Last year’s winner was Middleton in Teesdale Primary School with a project which involved Year 5 & 6 pupils examining the myths and magic around trees within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Sharing second prize were the North York Moors National Park, for a project which involved 13 primary schools and two secondary schools in saving the native juniper tree from extinction, and Heaton Children’s Services (incorporating Heaton Primary School, Heaton Children’s Centre, the Acorn Centre, and the Forest School in Bradford), which used school grounds as a resource for learning and teaching.

Prizes of £1000 for the winners and £500 for the runner up are on offer. The closing date for entries is noon on Monday 8 March and the winners will be presented with their prizes at the Bentley Weald Wood Fair in September.

The Royal Forestry Society has also developed a range of free woodland resources and an interactive Pancake Challenge game which focuses on managing woodlands to benefit plants, mammals, birds and insects. They are available to teachers and their pupils on this website via Learning and Woodland Discovery Zone.

A free CD-ROM of the Pancake Challenge is available for ALL primary schools (whether or not they enter the Schools Awards. Simply send us your contact details via www.rfs.org.uk/involved/schools-award.

Entry forms and further details of the Excellent in Forestry Awards 2010 can also be downloaded from this website at www.rfs.org.uk/involved/Excellence-in-Forestry-awards-overview. For details of last year’s winners, go to www.rfs.org.uk/involved/Excellence-in-forestry-winners-2009.