STOW pupils have been crowned Scottish champions when it comes to protecting the planet.

The village school collected the award at the Better Energy School Awards this week.

Their two entered projects, Plastic Rap and Reece the Recycled Cow from Stow, not only took top spot in the Totally Creative category for schools in Scotland, but was also declared the best project in all categories from the entire country - making them the Scottish Champions for 2019.

A total of 14 children from the school joined three other regional champion primaries at the national awards ceremony, held this week at London Zoo.

All of the regional champions were presented with a trophy and a cheque for £1,000 to put towards their school funds by TV and radio presenter Dermot O’Leary, as well as children’s author Andy Stanton and wildlife cameraman and presenter Adrian Cale.

Debbie Matthewson, principal teacher at Stow, told us: “Taking part in the Better Energy School Awards has had a tremendous impact

not only on our pupils but the local community and those connected to it.

"The projects have given our pupils the opportunity to use their learning and their voice to educate and change the mindset of people far and wide on the negative impact of single use plastic on the environment and the need for us all to start making changes in our everyday life to protect our world.”

The Better Energy School Awards is a nationwide competition for five to 11 year olds, which is run by the Young People’s Trust for the Environment (YPTE) in partnership with Total.

The competition, which aims to generate interest in the environment and raise awareness of the need for sustainable energy sources, has

received entries from over 340,000 children since it began in 2007.

YPTE Director, Peter Littlewood, said: “These children are amazing.

"They are from a small school, but they are having a big impact and are changing people’s minds and attitudes towards environmental issues in their community.

"And they are doing it so creatively, persuading people to make changes whilst entertaining them as well, whether with their singing, rapping or by creating beautiful artworks.”

Stow pupils learned about a wide range of environmental issues including single use plastic during their projects.

Their Plastic Rap, which was first performed at a community event to highlight environmental issues and the changes everyone should be making to protect the planet, was inspired by their learning about the damage plastic waste is causing to marine life.

A group of five year-olds from the school worked for three weeks on creating Reece the Recycled Cow, using a range of recycled materials to create a life-sized statue of a cow.

The UK Champions, Heswall Primary School from Heswall, Wirral received a total of £5,000 for their school funds.