EXAMINING wildife in and around a river won North

Tawton Primary School the coveted Kingfisher Award trophy in 2009 — for the third time in seven years.

The Kingfisher Award Scheme (KAS) takes children out onto farms to explore the natural world and discover the relationship between food, farming and wildlife.

The theme last year was 'Life in and around a river'. The activities included finding animals that lived in the river, which proved popular with pupils as they examined the contents of their nets and identified the small creatures.

Evidence of creatures living near by and using the river was found, as well as examining local flora and bees.

Having discovered through these activities the importance of the food chain and the delicate balance of the environment the pupils returned to school to put together a display.

It was judged by a panel drawn from farming and wildlife backgrounds. The pupils discussed their projects with the judges and the school put together excellent work which showed the pupils' understanding of their time spent by the river — it was a well deserved win with entries from eight other schools.

KAS gave the school a tree to commemorate the win, and it was planted in the school grounds. The actual Kingfisher Trophy can only be held by the school for one year.