They’ve been busy at St Margaret’s Primary School in Tintinhull. Not only have they completed a wonderful outdoor space which can be used by the children and the local community, they’ve won a prestigious Gold Award from the Woodland Trust, planted more than 30 trees, each with a plaque remembering a person or group in the community. They’ve also received a letter of commendation from Her Majesty The Queen, during lockdown they donated vegetables from their garden to neighbours and have recently been using vegetables grown by pupils to make their own soup.
Headteacher Hayley Robinson says, “We have a wonderful school with fantastic links to our local community. We’re lucky that we have such a great outdoor space and wanted to use that not only for the children, but everyone locally too.”
The school has just finished their Community Garden. They’ve transformed an overgrown area, full of weeds, that was at the entrance to the nursery. After receiving an £800 grant they decided it should be a sensory garden and with the help of Felicity, a local gardener, they transformed the space. The children shared their ideas for a garden that would attract wildlife and be a place of peace for people to come and rest, so a seat will be added too.
Hayley said, “When it gets going, and is established, it’s going to be wonderful. We’ve got a sign which says this is St Margaret’s sensory garden for use by the children and the community. Please feel free to rest, listen to nature, pray and enjoy the wildlife.”
Alongside this the school has planted 30 saplings – birch, rowans and cherry trees – which were donated by the Woodland Trust. They made a wooden plaque for each one and asked local people to suggest what name or company to put on the plaque.
After planting a tree to support The Queen’s Green Canopy Project the pupils wrote to Her Majesty and sent her some of their pictures. They were overjoyed, and very surprised, when they received a letter back. In it The Queen’s Lady -in-Waiting, Jennifer Gordon Lennox thanked the children and said, Her Majesty wishes to thank you all for the lovely letter.”
“We were all thrilled to received the letter, it’s the first time in the school’s 150 year history that a reigning monarch has written to us . It’s such a recognition of all the hard work by staff and pupils to help the environment and encourage a love of nature.”