A TEACHER helping children discover the great outdoors has been nominated for a Community Pride award.

Yearsley Grove Primary School's Claire Hennigan has orchestrated an ambitious outdoor project to give youngsters the chance to learn outside the classroom.

The nursery teacher took on extra training to become a Forest School leader and has been at the forefront of renovating a derelict garden into an area which now boasts a cabin, camp fire, flowers, trees and a place to plant seeds.

The project was awarded funding by the National Lottery to revamp the garden after a decade of neglect.

Miss Hennigan, who has been nominated for the Primary School Project award, said: "Our head teacher is committed to children having an education inside and outside the classroom, so about two years ago I asked if I could so some training to contribute to an holistic approach.

"In a nutshell it's about taking children into a natural environment that has not been re-arranged so they can learn more about it.

"We have a fantastic garden space and as part of my role as a Forest School leader I have a check list of our area right down to the soil we have, so the children can really understand the natural world.

"Over the last few weeks the trees have produced wonderful leaves and the children are coming up with their own names and creating magical ideas for this garden."

Pauline Davies, a childminder, nominated Miss Hennigan for the award.

She said: "I feel it is very important for a lot of children today to understand nature and how to look after their environment as a lot of children nowadays live in apartments and do not have access to these kind of facilities.

"Also a lot of disadvantaged children do not get to experience anything of this nature outside the school.

"To be entered into this competition and raise awareness within the community would be a great achievement for the school and would hopefully benefit a lot of children in the area."

The awards are run in partnership with City of York Council and the primary sponsor is Benenden.

All Community Pride nominees must live in, or contribute to life in, the City of York Council area. Around three finalists from each category will be invited to the awards ceremony at York Racecourse in October, when the winners will be revealed.

You can make a nomination at www.yorkpress.co.uk/communitypride.

Entries must be submitted by Friday, July 17.