Monday 20 October 2014

And the winners are ....


Last night, at our glitzy award ceremony, CBBC's Naomi Wilkinson presented the first ever Mini Panda Awards sponsored by BBC Earth to the winners of Avon Wildlife Trust's 'Wild Schools Film Challenge' supported by Rolls-Royce plc.  With over 50 films entered into this years competition a team of judges watched all of the films and selected the five finalists who were invited to our award ceremony.


High Down Juniors Winners Key Stage 2
Not only did the children get to watch each others films and find out who the lucky winners were but they also got to hear about some of the adventures Naomi has had meeting wildlife from all around the world and some of the exciting filming Bertie Gregory, a local wildlife photographer and filmmaker who is himself up for a international Panda awards, has done.  Bertie amused the audience with wild stories and noises of British wildlife and gave all the young wildlife filmmakers his top tips saying, “ you don’t have to go far to find great wildlife. The most important thing you can do is take time to learn about nature and spend lots of time outdoors.”

Trinity Primary School Runner Ups Key Stage 2

The winners in the older age group were children from High Down Juniors (Portishead), who used puppets to tell the story of their local nature reserve, Portbury Wharf, and its wildlife. Runners up were Trinity Primary School (Portishead) whose film 'operation nature' explored wildlife in winter and even managed to film some amazing footage of a swan.
Staple Hill Primary Winner Key Stage 1

Winners in the younger category were from Staple Hill Primary (Bristol) who put the waterproof cameras to the test by filming tadpoles under water in their school pond.  


Oasis Academy New Oak Runner Ups Key Stage 1

Runner Ups for this age group were Oasis Academy New Oak (Bristol) who did a fantastic job of exploring their school grounds looking for habitats and wildlife, including a big black spider and lots of daisies.  
May Park Primary School OVERALL WINNERS 



A special Gold Mini Panda for the overall winner was presented to children from May Park Primary (Eastville, Bristol) for their inspired film ‘A day in the Woods’ commended for its excellent narration and filmmaking.  The children also won a free two day, one night residential for their whole class to our Folly Farm education centre and were particularly looking forward to going to school the next morning to share with their school their winning news and prizes. 

Harry, aged 8, who took part in the Wild Schools Film Challenge says, "It was so fun because we got to look at animals whilst learning and getting fresh air.  The best lessons ever!"
Naomi Wilkinson, presenter of CBBC's Naomi's Nightmares of Nature says, "The Wild Schools Film Challenge is a great way for children to get outside and learn about the nature right on their doorsteps. All the films deserve a Mini Panda Award in my book!"
For everyone at Avon Wildlife Trust it was a very exciting and proud night as we watched the children collect their awards for the amazing films they entered into the competition.  To view all of the films please visit youtube.com/avonwildlifetrust
The competition for next year has already started so if you would like to book out a kit box, free of charge, for your class please visit www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/wildschools
Jo Taylor, Learning Development Manager for Avon Wildlife Trust