A Year 4 pupil from Tarvin Primary School has won the sixth annual Jim Grogan Countryside and Wildlife Award.

Cara Mulligan was presented with her award, for her role in the life of the school, in the community woodland which adjoins the school.

Several trustees of the Tarvin Community Woodland Trust were also in attendance.

Headteacher Andrew Davies praised the woodland as a resource and also the trustees for all the work they do to develop and maintain the woodland.

He read a citation about Cara, which will fix fixed into a commemorative book on display in the entrance hall.

Tarvin Primary School headteacher Andrew Davies announcing the winner to the school
Tarvin Primary School headteacher Andrew Davies announcing the winner to the school

Cara has had a love for nature and wildlife from a young age. She is a member of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust and regularly attends local wildlife watch events, held in Tarvin Woodland. Activities and projects that she has been involved in have included ‘bug hotel’ construction, nest building and forest art.

She has actively participated in Tarvin Flower Show for the last three years – winning first prize for her miniature secret garden. As well as this, she has won second prize for her artwork and last year brought home the Lichfield Shield (overall best in show for children) for her picture of a tree creeper.

Last year, Cara spent six weeks getting up at 6am every morning to walk down to the Roman Bridges to view the nesting kingfishers.

Chairman of the trustees Stuart Exell said: “The award was so important to Jim Grogan and how pleased he would have been that it has been such a success for six years now.”

He then presented Cara with her certificate, a commemorative plaque and a book token. He expressed the hope that in the future some of the children present would become trustees and take the woodland forward.

In a surprise move, a group of Year 5 girls presented Stuart with £80 that they had raised for the woodland from a cake sale they had organised.

The Jim Grogan Countryside and Wildlife Award is presented annually to the pupil of Tarvin Primary School who is considered to have the greatest breadth of knowledge and the best understanding of the animals and plants that make up the immediate environment of Tarvin School and Tarvin Village.

The woodland has since been awarded a seventh consecutive Green Flag Award from the scheme that acknowledges excellence in Parks and Green Spaces.