A PRIMARY school is to have its winning design for a wildlife garden recreated in its grounds.

Grewelthorpe CE Primary School in Ripon was selected from hundreds of entries as winner of a national competition to design a wildlife corridor inspired by canal-side habitats. Bishop Monkton CE Primary School, near Harrogate was one of six runners up in the national contest, which was judged by a team of experts.

The contest was run by the Canal and River Trust, which estimates half the children in the country live within a few miles of one of its waterways and invited schools to think about canal wildlife and nature as part of their studies.

Both primary schools won a variety of habitat homes worth £500, which will encourage wildlife into their school grounds. They include camera traps, a nest box with a webcam, a solar-powered insect study centre, bat boxes, hedgehog shelter, butterfly biome and study guides and learning resources.

Emily Fulda, from the Canal & River Trust, visited the schools to deliver the prizes said the designs were a credit to the children who contributed.

She said: “Because we’ve been supported in the project by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, I’m delighted to be able to present some excellent prizes which will help encourage wildlife into the school grounds.

“As a charity, one of our aims is to encourage children and their families to visit and enjoy their local canal or river.

“The waterways can be a really important place to get close to nature, with ducks, swans, dragonflies and many other much-loved species.

“Whether children and their parents are visiting to see the wildlife, to run, canoe or just to go for a walk, we know that being by the water, near wildlife and out in the fresh air makes people healthier and happier.”