Green-fingered children at a Birmingham primary school are celebrating after winning a national environmental award. Castle Bromwich Junior School has turned an outdoor area into a thriving learning garden complete with mini orchard, blackberry bush, flowers, bulbs and even a bug hotel. The garden has helped pupils at the school learn about nature where the children design posters and give presentations to class mates and learn about biodiversity.

The school on Hurst Lane North, Castle Bromwich was presented last week with the ARM Green Schools Sustainability Award. The accolade is part of the Dame Esther Rantzen backed Community Education Awards, which reward outstanding school projects across 17 award categories.

Chris Harrison is the outdoor learning and adventure activities leader with the Unity Trust. The trust is a collaborative funding pot for 22 schools across North Solihull which helped fund the project. Chris explained the school decided to develop the area so the children could learn the importance of protecting the environment and nature.

“The children have put some flowers in the garden and they all have enjoyed the digging,” he said. “We also have spent time cooking around a camp fire and organised bug hunts, which are really good fun, the children love it. Everyone at the school is so excited about the award.”

Richard Evans is a coordinator with the Community Education Awards and said: “One of the key areas judges look for when assessing a project is the participation of the children and how they’ve been involved and taken ownership of a project- the school’s outdoor learning area looks fantastic and is a brilliant addition.

“This is a fantastic example of how a school can help nurture its pupils whilst teaching the importance of biodiversity and the environment. Well done to everybody involved.”