SCHOOL pupils in Barry have planted newly-painted bird boxes in a green-flag-awarded Vale of Glamorgan park.

Cadoxton Primary school pupils painted bird boxes and placing them in trees around Victoria Park.

Year 2 and 3 attached the nesting boxes to trees and will monitor how they are used over the coming months.

The Eco-School follows an international programme run in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy and funded by the Welsh Government.

The programme helps pupils learn about sustainable living and global citizenship while giving them the information and support they need to make changes that will benefit their school, local environment and wider community.

These include reducing waste and energy consumption, using environmentally-friendly transport, living healthily and being aware of litter issues.

Keep Wales Tidy Green Flag coordinator Lucy Prisk said: “Victoria Park is a wonderful example of a site that has met the high standards needed to achieve the Green Flag Award. It is well loved by the whole community and it was great to see the students from Cadoxton Primary learning about the importance of the Green Flag Award and all the wildlife living in their local park. By helping to paint and put up new nest boxes the students had the opportunity to enjoy and share the outdoors with the park’s smaller residents.”

Vale council, cabinet member for visible, leisure and regulatory services, Cllr Gwyn John said: “Here in the Vale of Glamorgan, we have worked hard to create top-quality green areas for people to enjoy and are proud that this effort has resulted in so many spaces around the county being given Green Flag status.

“It’s great to see the children of Cadoxton Primary school enjoying Victoria Park. Having such a wonderful space on their doorstep offers a fantastic opportunity to learn about local wildlife. This bird-nesting project should further fuel that interest, while time in the park can also help make children aware of important environmental issues.”