An awards event will celebrate the work of eco-savvy staff and pupils and hold them up as shining examples for other schools to follow.

The Green School Awards 2019 will showcase environmentally-friendly activities carried out at primary and secondary schools across the county for the benefit of local communities.

Last week, judges gathered for the official launch of the annual awards, which are open to nominations until Friday, December 7.

The panel will choose the best school-led initiatives in categories such as green travel to school and road safety; energy conservation; nature conservation; air pollution; and recycling.

Last year’s winners included St John’s CE Primary School in Maidstone - who were crowned overall recycling champion for their campaign to repair and reuse old, unwanted bicycles.

Sandown School in Dover took the overall green champion award for projects including a green zone for outdoor learning, hedgehog habitat, gardening club, plus a Big Soup Share made from produce pupils had grown.

The 2018 overall eco travel champion accolade went to Aylesford Primary School for their Smarter Journeys Programme – a series of fun challenges to give Year 6 pupils the skills and confidence to cycle to secondary school.

The launch of the 2019 event took place at Ashford International Hotel and was attended by members of the judging panel, which include key partner Golding Vision plus representatives from Kent County Council, Medway Council, LoopCR, ADM Computing, EduKit, NCS Technology, and KidZania.

Sarah Leipnik from Golding Vision said: “It shows us what schools are doing around green, environmentally-friendly projects - that can be getting cars off the road by walking to school, growing their own produce, or having a recycling project.

“We want to see all of these projects entered into the awards.”

Stuart Steed from Medway Council said: “We are really proud to champion a new category at the Green School Awards. It’s all relating to air pollution monitoring and what schools are currently doing in their school environment to improve air quality.”

Winners will be invited to an awards celebration staged at Ashford International Hotel in February 2019. A booklet detailing winners’ projects will be circulated to schools across the south east to spread best practice.

Find out more or nominate at www.GreenSchoolAwards.co.uk by the December 7 deadline.