This report is about the Trees for Schools project where climate resilient trees have been planted in a local primary school thanks to support from Winkworth Blackheath, Chilsehurst and Greenwich, who have also supported planting in two more schools.
Every tree planting workshop with the Trees for Schools programme is bespoke and tailored to the needs of the school. We take into account the age of the children and the existing availability of green space for new trees. A pre-planting consultation with the school helps us to understand which species will best suit their plans for the site, map out the planting and plan how the trees will best be used as a resource for the school and community.
Through this project, young people were taught about the importance of trees to local wildlife and why we need to plant them to help protect our planet. The children learnt how to plant trees and then helped plant them with our Education Officer. As well as educating children about climate change and wildlife, this project helped create green learning spaces in schools and benefited children’s health and wellbeing by getting them outside and learning in a new environment.
In December 2022, 26 children from year 2 at the newly named Twin Oaks Primary School in Greater London helped to plant 100 trees at their school. The children learnt about the power of trees to create clean air in cities and how planting trees will help to protect the environment. Each child had the opportunity to plant the trees by working together to dig holes and ensure the trees were protected from local wildlife.
Our Educational Officer, Jemma Cuthbert, hosted a full day of workshops on climate education and trees. The site was chosen to screen off a garden area from the rest of the playground and to provide some much needed shade in an urban environment.
The planting was part of a 'Plant a Tree for the Jubilee' initiative, created by Cool Earth, that created The Queen's Green Canopy to mark Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. 'By inviting everyone to plant trees throughout the UK, the QGC highlighted the significant value of trees and woodlands as nature's simple but highly effective way to clean the air we breathe, help combat the climate crisis, create important wildlife habitats and improve our general health and wellbeing.'
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Jemma has been a primary school teacher for 14 years and worked in environmental education for 6 years prior to that. She has a degree in Ecology and a lifelong interest in the natural world. She says: “I love seeing children enthused about the living things they find when exploring outdoors. That sense of wonder and curiosity is magical! I firmly believe that encouraging widespread learning about the species and habitats we share the world with is vital to conserving them and managing them wisely. As an experienced teacher, I also know that learning outdoors benefits children directly, with great potential to boost interest, enjoyment and self-esteem.”
As a GreenTheUK partner, you support projects that are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
