Our school’s location in an urban environment means we have limited space. Yet staff and students have been hard at work making the space in which we work and learn a little greener, more beautiful, and more ecologically sustainable.

While the magnificent magnolia tree in our lovely rose garden may immediately come to mind when you think about nature at the Abbey, our school is home to many mature trees. Now, thanks to Mr Lucas who is Head of Estates, Mr Smith who works tirelessly to maintain the school grounds, and with the help of some of our Eco council members, the school is home to over four hundred additional trees – albeit very small ones.

Last week, Mr Smith planted four hundred and twenty saplings on the school astro. All the new trees are native species donated by the Woodland Trust and now there are hundreds of little oaks, rowans, and blackthorn trees putting down roots and beginning to grow. Some of the trees were planted to form a hedge in front of the back wall while others were planted to form small copses.

Eco council members came out at lunch on Thursday to help plant the new arrivals. Eliana-Grace and Diya in Upper III, Candy in Lower IV, Shreeya in Lower V, and Matilda in Lower VI helped ease our new guests into the ground, support them with poles, and slip plastic sleeves around them to protect them from hungry rabbits this winter.

While it will take a few years for the new copses to develop, once the trees mature and start to flower, they will produce acorns, rowan berries, and sloes, and provide food for birds and squirrels. Combined with the hundreds of saplings that were planted last year, the other mature trees, and the bee orchids that grow on the slopes leading down to the astro, these trees will bring a bit more of the natural world to the Abbey grounds.