Grantown kids win Award for Moorlands project

Pupils from Grantown Primary School were presented with the John Muir Award at a special ceremony on Thursday 17 June, after completing an innovative new project to learn about moorlands.

The project was the product of collaboration between the John Muir Award and the Cairngorms Moorlands Project – such was its success that it will be offered to the other Primary and Secondary Schools in the National Park.

Through activities such as bug hunting, moss foraging, role play, listening stones and exploring the children learned about the wildlife that moorland supports and how they relate to each other. To complete the project, groups of pupils have put together leaflets about the moor to share their experience with others.

Mairi Robertson, Headteacher at Grantown Primary School, said: “One of Grantown Primary School’s aims is to encourage our children to have a responsible and caring attitude towards others and towards the environment.”

Commenting on the success of the project, Dr Andy McMullen (known as ‘Dr Moss’ to the pupils), Cairngorms Moorlands Project Manager, said: “This project is a great example of how different projects within the National Park can work together to really explain what it means to be in the Park.”

Robbie Nicol, Cairngorms John Muir Award Manager, said: “This is one of the best projects that the John Muir Award has been involved in here.”