The 2008 Blake Shield Winners (for the 10-16 age group):

The Billericay School

The Billericay School, winners of the 2008 Blake Shield with Professor David Bellamy

The older section for the Blake Shield (for 10 to 16 year olds) was won by The Billericay School, Billericay, Essex with a Project called: Mill Meadows –an ecological study. The school is working in association with Basildon Council to collect baseline data on a site of special scientific interest (Mill Meadows). The intention is to repeat the study annually in order to monitor the site and the impact of the site’s management plan. A detailed map showing and naming the different areas was produced. Activities carried out included pond dipping and bird recording, and results were presented of plant transects including histograms showing the comparative abundance of plants recorded. The project report was abundantly illustrated with photographs showing the children at work, the habitats studied and the species recorded.

Runners up (Blake Shield age group 10-16):

Craigholme School Wildlife Club

Runners up in this section were: Craigholme School Wildlife Club, Glasgow with a project called: The Nest of the Blue Tits; Claires Court School (Years 7 & 8), from Maidenhead with two projects called: Improving our Environment.