Help the environment and win.
Primary schools across Birmingham and the Black Country have the chance to win superb prizes for getting their kids to go wild every day in June.
The prizes, such as a £2,500 wild makeover and free forest school sessions for their pupils are being provided by The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
To enter the competition, schools need to register for The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild challenge. This means doing something to help children engage with wildlife every day in June, recording it somehow, either through a blog, making a video, producing a journal or their own idea and using this to tell the story of their school’s 30 days wild and why they need more wild time.
Georgia Stokes, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, said: “Being a bit wild is great for all of us, especially children. Spending time exploring the great outdoors is great fun for kids and it is hugely important. The benefits that time outdoors brings to a child cannot be overestimated. Natural play and exploration helps to build confidence and self-esteem, develops curiosity and understanding of the natural world and helps to keep children healthy and happy.
“We want this competition to stimulate schools to think about the amount of time the kids get outside and how this can be used as a learning tool by encouraging them to do it every day for a month. There are so many exciting opportunities to explore that link to the curriculum, from mini beast hunting, measuring and monitoring plant growth to pond dipping, wildlife spotting and games that improve communication skills. We hope the prizes will provide an added incentive to schools and we are delighted that the generosity of players of People’s Postcode Lottery is allowing us to provide such a wonderful offer.”
More details of the competition are available on The Trust’s website www.bbcwildlife.org.uk but schools need to register for the 30 Days Wild challenge before the start of June and inform The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country of their entry. All materials for the competition entry should then be submitted by July 15th 2015 with prizes to be awarded by TV’s Nick Baker at a special event at EcoPark, The Trust’s environmental education centre in Small Heath, Birmingham in autumn.