CHENEY School has scooped an anti-litter award for the third time after beating all the other secondary schools in Oxford.

The OxClean scheme, run by Oxford Civic Society, undertakes random spot checks of Oxford’s secondary schools each year before revealing the winners.

The schools are assessed on the absence of litter and the effectiveness of their disposal facilities.

Cheney’s Year 11s and staff led a campaign to clean up the school to win back the prize they last picked up in 2010.

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Jolie Kirby, headteacher at the school in Cheney Lane, Headington, said: “Many of our outdoor spaces are used for learning by our clubs and societies. We treat them as classrooms.

“The students have been working with the staff on this campaign. If they see litter, they’ll put it in the bin, even if it isn’t their own.

“It’s important to keep the learning environment clean and free of litter.”

“What was great was the sense of pride among the 240, year 11 students and the staff who had been helping with the campaign.

“Our cleaning and site staff have also been amazing and we’ve managed to keep our learning society really really clean.”

The OxClean anti-litter campaign, founded in 2006, visits five secondary schools several times a year.

Cherwell, Oxford Academy, Oxford Spires and St Gregory the Great also took part.

Campaign conveyor, Rosanne Bostock, said: “Anti-littering is not sexy.

“It’s difficult to find something that will supercharge ‘not dropping litter’ into people’s minds.

“Cheney is very into respect and self-esteem and they are terribly proud of what it is doing. It brought in its year 11 group, and that’s our prime target – 15-16 year olds, particularly boys – and they definitely pulled out all the stops.”

She added: “All of the secondary schools have made progress and raised their standards, some more than others. A couple of schools are still struggling.”

OxClean’s Spring Clean – where volunteers do a mass litter pick across Oxford – will take place next March.

Pupil Hannah Toohey, 15, said: “In school we are encouraged to respect our working environment.

“We train younger students to take care of their classrooms and sports and social areas.

“We use recycling bins in classrooms and make sure bins are prominent in the playground.

“We like being in a clean, litter- free space and are very proud to have been awarded this very special shield.”

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