2007 saw the second year of the successful UK Merit Awards. Schools went all out to impress the judges to show how they’ve brought Yellow Woods Challenge to life in assemblies, classes and the wider community.

The judging panel was extremely impressed by the number and the quality of the entries this year. So much so, that they awarded three ‘Highly Commended’ certificates for runners-up as they felt that the quality of their entries should be recognised.

Schools were asked to describe why they thought their school should win a Merit Award and to provide evidence of the school’s activities. £1,000 was awarded by Yellow Pages to the winning school in each of the four categories:

Most promising newcomer - St. Teresa’s Catholic Primary School
St. Teresa’s Primary School in Bristol wowed the judges with their submission, which clearly and impressively demonstrated how the whole school had embraced every aspect of the Challenge, from building a sculpture from the old directories to running a competition to see which pupil could collect the most old Yellow Pages directories in total.

“We were thrilled to hear that we’d won the national award. As an Eco School, we work hard to help the environment in many ways and this competition fits very well into our Eco calendar.

“Our £1,000 prize money will go towards an energy saving scheme in the school – something our Eco Group is currently working on.”

Mrs Alison Spurrell, Eco-schools co-ordinator

Highly Commended went to: Merstone School


Most improved school - Balallan School
Balallan School in the Isle of Lewis has only 31 pupils, yet managed to boost their collection of old Yellow Pages directories from 180 to 588, which is a massive 13.24 per pupil increase!

They also built a giant sculpture from the old directories collected and sent letters home to parents to remind them to bring in their old directories and help the school with their total.

“We are stunned, yet delighted, to be the recipients of the Yellow Woods Challenge’s Most Improved School Award.

“We plan to use our prize money to develop our school grounds into outdoor classroom areas, where pupils can study the diversity of plants and living creatures on their doorstep and thereby begin to foster a caring appreciation of the environment.”

Mrs Anne McLeod, headteacher

Community involvement - joint winners:

The Grange Infant and Nursery School
The community involvement award always gives a fantastic glimpse into the creativity and drive that schools put into the Yellow Woods Challenge and this year the judges felt that they could not distinguish between two very worthy winners.

The Grange Infant and Nursery School, near Shrewsbury, demonstrated a thorough approach to communicating their Challenge to their community, using local radio, newsletters and leaflets to get local people involved. They also enlisted the help of the school’s fundraising committee to really raise the profile of their efforts.

“We worked very hard as a school to increase parental and community involvement this year. We were absolutely delighted to hear that we had won this national prize and are extremely grateful to all of the people who helped us to achieve this award.

“Our £500 prize money will go towards the cost of a Trim Trail we are planning to build for the children to enjoy for years to come.”

Mrs Marie Sibley, headteacher

St Gwladys Bargoed School
St Gwladys Bargoed School in Caerphilly have made the Yellow Woods Challenge a cult event in their local community as they run their annual ‘Yellow Woods Challenge marathon’ around the town, collecting the old Yellow pages directories that the residents have left out for them. The judges really felt that creativity like this deserved to be rewarded.

“We're delighted to be joint winners of this prestigious national prize. The children had great fun and showed real commitment to the project and were thrilled with the support they received from the community.

“The children now have lots of creative ideas as to how they would like to use our £500 prize money.”

Mrs Kathryn Evans, headteacher

Highly Commended went to: Highover JMI School

Education in action - Broad Chalke Church of England Primary School
Broad Chalke Church of England Primary School, near Salisbury really met the Challenge head on in their first year of taking part, designing adverts to be placed in local shops and involving the whole school in creating a giant sculpture of a tree. The judges were very impressed in particular with how the sculpture, ‘Learning and Growing Together’, represented how the children and staff embraced the Challenge into their curriculum.

“The children were thrilled when they learnt we had won the national award. We intend to use our prize money to help create a willow walk and outdoor classroom which will allow us to continue the children’s environmental learning in natural surroundings.”

Mrs Margaret Pearson, headteacher

Highly Commended went to: Squirrels Heath Junior School


For every pound awarded to the schools in prize money, a matching pound has been given by Yellow Pages to the Woodland Trust’s ‘Tree For All’ campaign – the most ambitious children’s tree-planting project ever launched in the UK.