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22/03/2010
The Npower competition will help 10 urban schools lacking green space
Environmental regeneration charity Groundwork has joined forces with energy supplier npower to launch a competition for 10 city schools in England to win an innovative outdoor greener learning space on their school grounds. The Climate Cops Green Fingers competition is aimed at urban schools in England that teach 4 to 7 year olds, where there is currently a lack of quality outdoor green space. The 10 competition winners will receive a package of support worth £5,000 from npower to work with Groundwork to create an outdoor growing area where children can enjoy a ‘living outdoor classroom’ and learn about the power of the earth’s natural energy through the science of gardening in a fun and engaging way. In its third year, npower’s Climate Cops programme inspires children aged 4-14 to make positive differences to the environment – showing them how to take action both at home and school to use energy more efficiently. Each greener learning space for each of the 10 winning schools will be bespoke. For example it might be the creation of raised beds for growing flowers and vegetables, or a mini-allotment, or a growing space that is designed especially to benefit wildlife. Headteachers can enter the competition by following the competition link on www.npower.com/climatecops. To enter, headteachers need to complete an entry form with their school’s details, describing what difference this prize will make to their school environment and their pupils and attach two photos of their concrete school grounds that they would like to have transformed! Groundwork has a long history of providing sustainable environmental education to schools and helping them to make the most of their outdoor learning space, improving biodiversity and encouraging pupils to develop a life-long respect for nature. Groundwork’s chief executive, Tony Hawkhead, said: “The school environment is one of the most influential environments children experience; after all, children spend almost half of their waking day at school. They will develop social interaction skills, make and break friendships, in short, grow as people. “Through this partnership with npower we will be able to support each winning schools to develop their grounds to enhance the learning of their pupils in a fun, enjoyable and environmentally inspirational way.” Clare McDougall, Education Programme Director, from npower added: “We are delighted to be running our Climate Cops Green Fingers competition and hope it will inspire many children to learn about energy and growing in a fun way with the expertise of Groundwork supporting the winning schools’ greener learning spaces.”
