Success Story!

Blackwater School, Cornwall

Blackwater school received 50 tree saplings from ERS to help set up their own School Tree Nursery in January 2017. Teacher Sue Chapman has kindly provided this update and some photos from the school’s planting day.

“Today the children have been planting trees in the top corner of the playing field. Probably the coldest day of this years winter, yet all children wrapped up and shared the experience.

We were awarded 50 saplings by the Earth Restoration Service, which is a charity that is trying to help communities and schools plant more trees. Our selection consisted of native species including hornbeam, field maple, oak, willow, hazel, silver birch, wild cherry and sweet chestnut.

The aim is to make the area more wildlife friendly. The species are selected by the organisations to provide various food sources and coverage for birds, insects and therefore other animals. It will in time create coverage between the school field and the new housing developments. As it grows it will probably be kept as hedging with some trees enabled to grow bigger. It may also provide opportunities for the children to study the habitat and be involved in its maintenance. Currently, all children who were at school last Thursday have planted a sapling with a friend. It was a very cold day but we tried to talk to the children about why we were doing it, about roots and how trees grow etc. The children were all very well behaved and thank you to staff for braving the cold!

We are also creating a Dogwood area which gives nice winter colour, these are from cuttings so any more donations welcome. The top left corner of the field will not be mown this summer and left to grow wild without planting.”

A short video of the tree planting can also be found on the school’s website at http://www.blackwater.cornwall.sch.uk/