From October 6th to 11th, Nobel International School Algarve's Middle School students triumphed in the Globeducate WWF Wild Wisdom Global Challenge 2024-2025, taking 1st place among all Globeducate schools and securing 8th place globally, as the competition is open to all schools.
This achievement saw dedicated students from the Lagoa campus, led by Computing teacher Mr. Fernando Toscano and Computing, English and Global Perspectives Teacher Ms. Marlene Robalo, rise to the top in this prestigious competition and puts them into the global final of eight schools.
The Wild Wisdom Challenge, organised in collaboration with WWF, aims to inspire young people to engage with the natural world and understand the critical role humans play in protecting biodiversity. This year’s theme focused on reptiles and their crucial place within ecosystems. Through a variety of challenging and educational tasks, students gained in-depth knowledge about reptiles and their importance to global biodiversity.
"It was an amazing opportunity to participate in this online quiz, and I was surprised to find out that I qualified for the International Finale of the Wild Wisdom Global Challenge and that I will be representing my school (Nobel-Lagoa campus) at the finals in December. l learnt a lot about animals while I was doing the WWF challenge, and it was a fun way to do this". - Hanzhi “Grace” from Year 8A
"I think that the WWF Challenge was interesting for students, and it was fun to take part in it. Aside from being 'fun', I also learned new knowledge and facts about animals I didn’t know about. I was also very happy to hear that our school won!" - Alexander from Year 9A
"Being a part of and feeling included with the rest of the world and competing against the other Globeducate schools was a wonderful experience and a lovely opportunity for Nobel (Lagoa campus). It was also a bonus that we won! - Ciara from Year 9B
Each completed task earned the students individual points, while contributing to Nobel Lagoa's impressive performance on the global school leaderboard. The students’ hard work, enthusiasm, and passion for conservation shone through as they competed with other Globeducate schools worldwide.
All participants were awarded the ITZA Wild Wisdom Global Challenge 2024 Reptile Explorer certificate this week in recognition of their commitment to “diving deep into the world of reptiles and mastering all the learning along the way.”
We are immensely proud of this outstanding achievement and look forward to seeing what our students will accomplish in next year’s competition, as they continue to explore and champion vital environmental issues.
This win is especially significant for our school community, having been the first Globeducate school to host a WWF Wear it Wild Day and to have also been one of the first certified Eco-Schools in Globeducate. The Globeducate partnership with WWF-UK was established in 2019 and working together helps to bring conservation issues to life for our students.
written by Marlene Robalo
Middle School Co-ordinator, Year 12A Tutor, Computing/ICT, IGCSE English and Global Perspectives Teacher