THE Winter Olympics may be fading from the headlines, but children from St Mary's RC Primary School in Chippenham are sporting gold medals of their own.

The Schools' Recycling Scheme Gold Award is presented to schools who have collected more than ten tonnes of waste paper.

Since joining the scheme, which is run by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in partnership with Hills Waste, St Mary's has collected 15 tonnes of waste paper, equivalent to the weight of about three large elephants.

The awards were presented at a special assembly at the school on Monday.

The Schools' Recycling Scheme, which involves 78 schools across Wiltshire, aims to teach the next generation how they can make a difference to the environment by following the three R's of Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

Education officer Tania Crockett, part of the team that co-ordinates the scheme, said: "Congratulations to St Mary's for a fantastic effort.

"Fifteen tonnes of paper that would have gone to landfill will now have a useful new life as recycled paper."