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Thank you for expressing an interest in the first ever Rotherham Rewilding Awards! 
There is a huge amount of research telling us that the best thing we can do to help our  environment – and navigate the climate crisis – is to rewild our world.

That’s an ambitious  goal and individually, it feels overwhelmingly impossible.

Collectively though, we have the potential to make a genuine difference in Rotherham. Nobody has a greater opportunity 
to do this than we do.


It is abundantly clear that school staff in Rotherham are passionate about supporting 

nature’s recovery. There’s great work happening to support wildlife across our schools,

and  this award aims to recognise that! Hopefully, it will also help us to do even more.

The great news is that the best way for us to do more… is to do less!
This award is FREE and VERY EASY. Even so, it has the potential to have a big impact on Rotherham’s nature. It will require minimal work, and there aren’t any big portfolios. All it

takes is a quick email to confirm that you’re taking part and another brief email at the end 

of the year to tell us what you’ve done. If you’re already doing Eco-Schools or something

similar, this can contribute; it really, really, really won’t be any extra work!

butterfly
Clover flowers
Daisy field
Summer Meadow Flowers
Spring Meadow Flower
Meadow Field
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How does it work? 
Imagine “No Mow May” on a larger scale. The Wilder Rotherham Award will reward schools for allocating a proportion of their available green space for nature, and the easiest way to  do that is to simply let it grow wild.
Throughout the year, we’ll also be offering support to help schools manage their wild space more effectively – e.g. through optional workshops around tree and wildflower selection and creating a school pond. Properly managed wild space is even better for nature than areas that are left to their own devices, but it’s important to remember that to get the award, all you need to do is leave areas to grow. ‘Passive rewilding’ is still far better for nature than close-cropped lawns and school fields

The Levels

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Bronze

  • Allocate any amount of your available green space for rewilding. Even 1m x 1m will do it. That’s it! Told you it was easy!

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Silver

  • Allocate a new area of your grounds (of any size) for rewilding. (You may choose to add to a wild area you already have).

  • Ensure that at least 15% of your total green space is wild*.

This includes your new rewilded area and any existing wild areas / ponds / hedgerow / space covered by tree canopy etc. We’ve attached a guide to help with this part.

  • Engage children in your rewilding. This could be through assemblies, wildlife counts, measuring the wild area etc. 

There are no set criteria – it’s up to you how you do this!
*or 25% of “available” green space, ignoring sports pitches etc. that need to be 
mown - whichever is easier to achieve.

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GOLD

  • Everything in Silver, plus… Ensure that at least 30% of your total green space is wild**.

See above for what that includes. We’ve attached a guide to help with this part.

  • Engage families in your rewilding.  if  This could be done however you choose, but a great option would be a competition/ challenge that asked families to rewild some of their own garden / balcony etc. they have one.

**or 50% of “available” green space, ignoring sports pitches etc. that need to be mown - whichever is easier to achieve.

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