Christ the King RC Primary School in Worsley, Manchester has received a playground makeover worth £5,000 in recognition of its winning entry into a national recycling campaign for schools.

‘Message in a Bottle Top’, an initiative led by sustainable decking brand Composite Prime, alongside The National Schools Partnership (NSP), saw 100,000 students from across the UK collect and transform 90,000 plastic bottle tops into stunning life-sized sculptures of endangered animals.

The Message in a Bottle Top competition, which received more than 100 competition entries from schools across the UK in 2021, aims to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic waste and its impact on marine life. Composite Prime produces sustainable composite decking and cladding which is created using FSC 100% certified quality oak wood flour and recycled plastics. Each square metre of the brand’s composite decking contains the equivalent of more than 3,000 plastic bottle caps or 280 plastic bottles.

Director at Composite Prime, Charles Taylor said: “It has been fantastic to see the transformation to Christ the King’s playground and brilliant to reward them for all their hard work. We were absolutely overwhelmed by the response to our Message in a Bottle Top campaign and the standard of entries was incredible; it’s clear that younger generations feel very strongly about protecting our planet and the environment.”

The new playground, which has been designed and installed by Sovereign Play, features a balance beam, a swing board, a play den, a traversing forest, painted games and two areas of eco-friendly composite decking, gifted by Composite Prime.

Headteacher at Christ the King RC Primary School, Nichola Potts added: “We are thrilled to have been awarded our new playground, which is now completed and looks absolutely fantastic. The children will really benefit from the equipment available to them and break times will be much more enjoyable.

“Taking part in Message in a Bottle Top has brought us together as a community and the competition was the perfect opportunity for us to teach our pupils about the enormous consequences of plastic pollution.”

Students across all year groups at Christ the King Primary School banded together to create a sculpture trail using recycled plastic for children, parents and the wider community to enjoy. The sculpture trail included an enormous jellyfish suspended from a tree, a realistic-looking shark appearing out of a shrub and a larger than life bee erected in the school grounds.

Year 6 pupil, Renae at Christ the King R C Primary School, said: “I am so excited about our new playground and I’ve loved spreading awareness about how much plastic people use. Instead of littering we can do so much more!”

Rebecca Hillman, a parent of a year 6 child at the school, commented: “It’s wonderful news for our school children to have won a nationwide competition with their fabulous Manchester bottle top bee. The children are so excited about having a new playground.”