The RFS is searching for the most inspirational educational projects that promote learning about trees in counties stretching from Worcestershire to Cumbria.
Entries to the RFS Schools Award 2013 can encompass any current project relating to trees and woodlands. This year's winners were Free Rangers Nursery in Welton, Somerset for setting up a whole nursery based on the forest school ethos and for its use of wood inside the setting.
The Award is open to all educational establishments from nursery to the age of 18 in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria.
The winner will receive a prize of £1,000, while the runner up will receive £500. The awards, which are free to enter, are held in association with Forestry Commission England, and no woodlands are required.
RFS education officer Debbie Cotton said, ‘We are looking at projects which increase young people's understanding and appreciation of trees and woodlands. Winning projects in the past have been those which have really been creative in bringing the subject into the curriculum, those which provide genuine opportunities to learn outside or get hands on with woodcraft and those which have worked beyond the school and into the community.’
The awards move around the country in a seven-year rotation. Previous winners include Pinewood Special School in Hoe Road, Ware, Hertfordshire for its whole school approach to looking at wood craft, woodland management and conservation (2011), and Bladon School, Oxfordshire, for its OneOak project (2010).
- The deadline for applying is 4 March 2013, and judging will be held in May and June 2013. For further details and entry forms visit www.rfs.org.uk or email rfscompetition@boyns.net.
