A TREE-BILEE FOR THE QUEEN’S JUBILEE
Children at St John’s Beaumont School in Old Windsor are celebrating The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by planting over 100 trees.
The school has joined the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee by planting trees for a greener planet. The Queen’s Green Canopy will create a network of individual trees, avenues, copses and whole woodlands across the UK in honour of The Queen’s service. This will form a green legacy of its own, with every tree planted bringing benefits for people, wildlife and climate, now and in the future.
The school’s 70-acre estate, nestled between Runnymede, Windsor and Eton, is already home to a mature woodland as well as playing fields and outdoor play areas, offering a great home for new trees. The majority of the trees have been provided by the Woodland Trust as part of the Green Tree Schools Award programme in which the school aims to achieve a Platinum Award. They include a selection of rowan, silver birch, wild cherry, common oak and grey willow whips.
In addition, the school has received 4 young cherry trees from the Japanese Embassy as part of the Sakura Cherry Tree project which commemorates the ongoing friendship between Japan and the United Kingdom. These are four of over 6,000 cherry trees planted throughout the UK since 2017 when the project was launched by then Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Theresa May. The trees are a gift from the Japanese people with an invite to join them every Spring with a cultural festival, celebrating the cherry blossoms.
The tree planting took place on a special PSHE day, earlier in April, during which the children learned all about the importance of trees to our environment. Under the guidance of the school’s eco council, every single year group of the school, from Nursery to Year 8, got involved with their spades and watering cans to give the trees the best possible start.
The trees found homes in many different areas of the school’s grounds, including a new avenue of oaks that was planted on the playing fields. It will not only provide a home to the many wild birds living on the site but give shade and shelter to the children playing for generations to come.
The Japanese cherry trees have taken their pride of place in front of the main school building where they will be a beautiful sight throughout all seasons but particularly in Spring, adding to the impressive façade of the historic building which was designed in 1888 by John Francis Bentley.
Two trees have been adopted by Little Muddy Boots Windsor, a local garden and nature club for toddlers and planted in the school’s Boarders’ Garden. The garden is the location for the club’s weekly outdoor classes for 1 to 6-year-olds during which the little ones learn through play, crafting and gardening.
The children of the school will continue to look after their trees and nurture them whilst learning more about their environment and the importance of protecting our planet, for their own future and that of many generations to come.
