GHYLL Royd School and Pre-School has been presented with a Gold Award by the National Woodland Trust.

The Ilkley primary school has been awarded the honour for its consistent involvement in green activities including tree planting, visiting local woodland, reducing carbon emissions through recycling as an Eco School and offering children the opportunity to bring the great outdoors, wildlife and green issues into the classroom.

Ghyll Royd School and Pre-School has so far planted 450 new trees in their school grounds as part of the World War I Centenary commemorations and joined in with various Woodland Trust activities.

Pupils welcomed their local Woodland Trust Schools Advisor Mel Frances to join them for a day of outdoor fun as they worked towards the Gold award. Children in Forms 1 and 2 decorated a tree; Forms 3 and 4 got muddy and messy as they created Tree Champions to protect the woodland and Forms 5 and 6 became birds, bugs and bunny rabbits to take pictures from different animal viewpoints.

David Martin, Headteacher at Ghyll Royd School, said: “For the past 14 years I have been part of the Greystone Manor grounds development. The Gold Award represents the hard work of our amazing teaching staff who regularly plan and produce engaging outdoor lessons and the efforts of our pupils who find great joy and interest in the outdoors. We are big believers in the benefits of outdoor learning from our Forest Schools programme, to our Bushcraft lessons, to just getting outside for regular physical activities. I would like to say a big thank you to The Woodland Trust for creating this wonderful scheme for schools to get involved in. Our next aim is to be the first Platinum school in the Leeds region!”

Karen Letten, Woodland Trust schools and community engagement manager, added: “The scheme promotes a range of opportunities, each designed to stimulate a child’s imagination and sustain their interest in woods and trees. The achievements of the school are recognised through an awards scheme in which they receive points for taking part in activities. As they reach milestones within the project they will receive bronze, silver and finally an attractive wooden plaque which acknowledges they’ve achieved the environmental accolade of a gold award.”

The Woodland Trust’s vision is a UK rich in woods and trees, enjoyed by everyone. The charity is dedicated to creating new woodland with help from communities and schools and protecting and restoring ancient woodland for future generations to cherish.

The Green Tree Schools Award is free for schools to take part in, and during 2018 the Woodland Trust is also offering free packs of trees to schools. Find out how your school can get involved at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/schools. To see more of Ghyll Royd’s Eco School activities, visit www.ghyllroydschool.co.uk/news