Somerset School Coastal Champions Resources

From 2021 to 2025, many schools became Somerset School Coastal Champions as part of a larger funded project, run in partnership between the Severn Estuary Partnership’s Litter Free Coast & Sea Somerset project and Somerset Wildlife Trust’s “Somerset’s Wilder Coast Project” with support from Carymoor Environmental Trust. Schools and children were able to make positive changes that had big benefits for local nature, waterways and coastal environments.

We worked closely with schools and other youth organisations, sharing messages and actions about protecting ocean wildlife, ensuring clean bathing water and reducing marine litter through environmental education programmes.

Although the partner organisations are currently no longer able to actively support the award scheme with direct staff input, the resources and scheme framework are still available on this site, containing useful activities that could be used by schools, youth leaders and home school networks wanting to develop awareness and understanding of our coast. There are clear criteria and linked resources to complete tasks which could be used towards other schemes of work and wider environmental initiatives. There are also links to other organisation’s awards and projects.

How does the scheme work?

The three levels of the award are Ripple, Roller and Crest. Each level of the scheme should take about one school term to complete. The actions are all quite straightforward (and the school may have already completed some of the actions points).

These resources are free to use and you can adapt in any way you wish. If you would like to use these resources, we would really value if you could contact the partner organisations to let us know and tag us on social media.

Links to other programmes

There are lots of complementary initiatives and organisations who can support your environmental & coastal work.

• Carymoor Environmental Trust: Carymoor Environmental Trust is an environmental education charity based near Castle Cary in South Somerset. Carymoor inspires and enables people to live more sustainably by providing environmental education to school children, adults and families from a unique nature reserve created on 80 acres of capped landfill. Carymoor works with Somerset Council Waste Services to provide the Schools Against Waste project that helps to raise awareness amongst children and staff, encouraging everyone to practise the 3Rs – ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’. Somerset primary schools can take advantage of a FREE virtual or physical visit which normally comprises of an assembly and 2 workshops. For more information visit: Schools against Waste (carymoor.org.uk)

• Blue Schools: A European Blue School brings the ocean into the classroom. It’s a school, which through project-based learning, engages students with marine- and maritime-related topics to create awareness and a feeling of responsibility for our ocean.

• Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Schools: Become a Plastic Free accredited school

• Eco-Schools: Do your pupils want to take action on climate change? Eco-Schools can help!

• Marine Conservation Society Ocean-Friendly Schools Award: The Ocean-Friendly Schools Award is a free, curriculum-linked initiative that’s all about inspiring and empowering young people to care for our ocean.

• Somerset Wildlife Trust Blue Influencers: The Blue Influencers Scheme is a groundbreaking project from UK outdoor education charity The Ernest Cook Trust, with the ambition to support young people from underserved communities and those living in deprived coastal, estuary and riverside locations, by empowering them to tackle environmental and climate issues.

• WWT Steart Marshes

• Somerset Council Outdoor Education Advice

Funders & Partners