Turners Hill CE Primary School Regional Champion 2016, Totally Clued Up - South/ Central

Seven years ago, children from the school planted a woodland.  Their original intention was that the wood should be coppiced to provide wood to supply a biomass boiler they planned to have installed at the school.  Sadly, budget restrictions meant that this plan didn’t come to fruition, but with the trees ready to coppice, Year 3 were set the challenge of forming a company to sell products made from coppiced wood to the local community.  The children had to decide who would take on roles such as Chief Executive, Finance Director. Artistic Director etc. within their company, what products they would make and how much to charge for them.  At their Christmas sale, they sold mini Christmas trees, tree decorations, dibber sets and wigwams, all made from coppiced wood, raising £57.

Turners Hill Primary’s Headteacher Ben Turney said: “Turners Hill C of E Primary School is delighted to have been named as regional winners for the Total Green Schools Awards for 2016. We have had a long history of participating in the competition and are thrilled that as our work on sustainability evolves the children are able to enjoy the fun and challenge of entering such a brilliant competition.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about coppicing and setting up their own company related to this less well-known countryside skill. By broadening the children’s understanding of the environment and how it can be cared for we aim to supports the schools motto of developing ‘stewards of the Earth'."