Youngsters at Nields Junior, Infant and Nursery School at Slaithwaite have been taught about caring for the environment and looking after the planet.
Last term the school held a tree-planting day and every pupil was given the opportunity to plant a tree on the school’s new Forest Hill.
School bursar Emily McAllister said: “We decided on a section of grass, along the top of the playing field, where there was space to plant trees without impacting on the available space to run around the field.
“As we have a stream along the top of the field, placing the trees along the top should hopefully reduce the flow of water through the field when the stream blocks up or overflows.”
The tree-planting day was organised by governor Karen Hill, also a member of the PTFA committee, as part of the school’s mission to become an eco-friendly school.
Emily added: “The trees were kindly donated by The Woodland Trust, which provides trees free for community groups and schools to plant.
“Each class was given a 35-minute time slot throughout the day. As a class we talked about the importance of trees and a bit about carbon, in our brand new outdoor classroom, in Nields Garden.
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“Then we walked to the top of the field to plant our trees. Each child was given a sapling and a trowel or spade. The younger ones were assisted but every child placed a sapling and a wildflower seed-ball into the ground on Forest Hill.
“We hope to see a field full of wildflowers over the next few years as the trees grow bigger.
The children and the staff all really enjoyed the experience, with many children saying that they had never planted a tree before.”
In total some 250 trees were planted, all native British species including silver birch, rowan, wild cherry, hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, dog rose, common oak, field maple and grey willow.
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