Planting for the Future

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Winkworth Blackheath, Chislehurst & Greenwich supported the planting of 100 climate resilient trees in a local school in 2022/23

Project Overview

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.

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Project Statistics

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100

Trees Planted

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26

School Children Involved

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Testimonials

"Year 2 had a wonderful day on Tuesday, planting lots of new trees for our school! They learnt all about why trees are important for the world, and also how they will benefit us as a school! They planted them across the edge of the playground to help to protect us from the pollution in the road and also to create a beautiful, leafy border to our school! They also took part in lots of really fun activities, including creating natural art and a material based scavenger hunt! A big thank you to Jemma from the Royal Forestry society for giving the children a really exciting and informative experience!"

Planting for the Next Generation

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 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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Education Officer photo

Meet Our Education Officer

Jemma

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.”

Tree Species Planted:

100 trees planted in Greater London

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25 Trees Planted

Field Maple: Acer Campestre

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Field Maple: Acer Campestre

This species is the UK’s only native maple and is often grown as an ornamental tree in large gardens and parks, as well as in woods and hedgerows. Its wood is white, hard and strong, and is popular for making furniture, flooring and musical instruments, especially harps. Field maple flowers are hermaphrodite, meaning each flower contains both male and female reproductive parts.

Tree Leaf
25 Trees Planted

Hawthorn: Crataegus Monogyna

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Hawthorn: Crataegus Monogyna

Hawthorn is very much associated with the month of May, and the appearance of its bright, white flowers heralds the change from spring to summer. It is prolific in hedgerows, scrub and woodland throughout the UK and Ireland, and a single tree can grow as tall as 10m. In pagan times, hawthorn was a symbol of marriage and fertility, but in the Middle Ages, it was never brought into homes, as people believed it was a harbinger of illness and death.

Tree Leaf
25 Trees Planted

Beech: Fagus Sylvatica

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Beech: Fagus Sylvatica

If the oak is the king of British trees, then the beech is its queen. A dense canopy of leaves provides a rich habitat for all sorts of insects, its seeds are popular with mice and squirrels, and hole-nesting birds make their homes in beech trunks. Some of the UK’s tallest native trees are beeches, including one that stands at over 44m tall on the National Trust's Devil's Dyke Estate in West Sussex.

Tree Leaf
25 Trees Planted

Elder : Sambucus Nigra

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Elder : Sambucus Nigra

Elder trees can be found growing all over the UK, often near rabbit warrens and the homes of other woodland creatures who spread the seeds through their droppings. Our ancestors in the Middle Ages believed that planting elder trees near their houses would ward off the Devil, and elder leaves were thrown into graves at funerals to protect the dead from evil spirits. Although poisonous when raw, elderberries can be cooked and made into syrup or jam, while elderflowers make the perfect refreshing summer cordial.

Supported By:

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Project Partner:

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UN's Sustainable Development Goals

As a GreenTheUK partner, you support projects that are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

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Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.

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