About the school
Nuts for the Trees member since: Autumn 2020
Branch Manager: Poppy Manley
What does Nuts for the Trees mean to us?
The symbolism of acorns, conkers and chestnuts, put into pots by the tiny hands of primary school children, now taking root as young but growing saplings in the grounds of a secondary school, is a powerful reflection of our children growing and maturing.
Queen’s Park Primary School children started planting trees in Autumn 2020, with a small pilot project involving some of the year 3 children. We planted acorns in toilet roll pots and the tray sat in a quiet corner of our grounds, almost forgotten, until they started sprouting the following May. But, as the phrase goes, ‘from tiny acorns mighty oaks will grow’, so our project, from humble beginnings, has grown into a whole school project, and a future forest has its roots in the ground at a local secondary school.
The project, which is ongoing, has provided staff and children alike with a sense of pride and purpose. It has given the children useful learning opportunities and has created a real and tangible response to climate change, convincing the children that meaningful action is possible.
Blogs from Queen’s Park School
A natural development in our curriculum
We have been running our tree planting project at Queen’s Park Primary School for three years now, with two successful planting-out sessions. We really want to make sure that the project continues, but as Teaching Assistants (TAs) with full timetables of essential academic interventions, it is difficult to find the time to implement the initial…
Our Second Successful Secondary School Planting
Our year 6 students have done it again! This time last year, we were celebrating our first batch of saplings finding their final planting site, and this year we are once more proud of our planting achievement. Different cohort of children, different secondary school, but the same appalling bad weather(!) and the same successful outcome. …
A school project finally takes root
The first batch of trees from Queen’s Park Primary School’s tree-planting project have finally made it into the ground! Our school has no grounds beyond the tarmac playground, so the biggest challenge of the project was finding a suitable spot to plant out the potted trees which we had planted and nurtured. Luckily, we were…
Trees of Knowledge
Setting up and implementing a whole school tree planting project has been a challenging, but fun and fulfilling venture. The first step to take if you are thinking of trying the same, is to get permission and clearance from the right people; the head teacher, the caretaker/grounds manager and the bursar. I wrote a proposal…
Our secret garden
Having had some small success with growing trees in my back garden, I decided to expand the tree-planting adventure into my work. I have the pleasure of working as a Teacher’s Assistant in my local primary school. What a perfect opportunity to get the next generation involved in saving the planet and planting trees! I…
The Joy of Trees
I love the idea of small-scale tree planting. Individuals, families, community groups pushing a seed into the earth and watching their trees grow. A couple of years ago I was suddenly consumed with the idea of planting trees. As a response to the climate crisis, it seemed to me the most important thing to do.…