Project Diary: St Paul's CE Primary

Follow our work with St Paul’s CE Primary to enrich the grounds through tree planting and greening. There'll be regular updates on the project, so keep an eye out for more!

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June, 2019

It's official! On 14th of June, the woodland garden at St Paul's CE Primary finally opened with a lovely launch event, involving wildlife cakes and bug songs. You can read all about the launch below.

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February, 2019

Good news - the project is nearly finished! To celebrate, St Paul's have tweeted out their journey - in alphabetical order! Check out the whole list on their Twitter profile.

How to look after an urban woodland

The beds built in January are now home to a host of new plants, and the woodland is slowly coming to life. To make sure pupils at the school know exactly how to care for and make the most of their new woodland, Trees for Cities ran some workshops, teaching pupils about worms, plants and composting and enjoying the opportunity to plant one of the many plants into the borders. The children learned how to dig a hole, release the root system and plant the grasses, herbs and shrubs carefully into the soil. The #greygoesgreen campaign has started something special.

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Trees for Cities running the workshop

Trees for Cities also spoke to pupils at the school, asking them what they like about the woodland, and the very first thing they’ll do in it once it’s finished. Stan, in Year 3 said:

“The very first thing I’ll do in the woodland is sit under a tree with a book, and pretend I’m in a forest.”

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Pupils enjoying the workshop

St Paul's have been busy tweeting updates too. Check them out below, and follow their Twitter here.

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January, 2019

What will live in the woodland?

Children at the school were asked what creatures might live in their new urban woodland. Lissa thinks there’ll be butterflies, and she drew this picture!

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Oliver thinks there will be a dragon living in the woodland. This is what he had in mind.

Dragon

From "wooden jigsaw puzzle" to woodland

The "wooden jigsaw puzzle" has only just started, and began to take shape in the new year. First, frames were built to house new planting beds, and green screens that will serve as another barrier to pollution arrive.

Go to St Paul's CE Primary's twitter account to see more day-to-day updates! Below you can see the arrival of a lot of soil.

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Green screens arrive, ready and waiting to be put up
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Frames for the planting beds are installed

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December, 2018

The vision: a new urban woodland

In late 2018, it was time to get stuck into building construction, and Trees for Cities set about laying the foundations of a new urban woodland for learning, play and exploration. For a glimpse into the visions of the school community, and how they developed, check out the photos below.

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February, 2018

A new partnership is built

St Paul’s CE Primary and Trees for Cities forged a strong partnership to innovate, develop and deliver the project to transform the school grounds. Supported by funding and encouragement from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Hammersmith BID, Mayor of London, School Travel Plan Fund, The Finnis Scott Foundation, DS Smith Charitable Foundation, Tanner Trust, Kudos TV, and Tideway, the project created energy and enthusiasm and began to become a reality.

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October, 2017

#GreyGoesGreen

The first step towards addressing the issue was to inform and motivate the school community to come together and tell people that there was a need for change. Pupils, staff and teachers at the school launched the #GreyGoesGreen campaign, to inform people, press and funders of the need to make the grounds healthier and greener, and to bolster support.

From the school council -formed of representatives from years 2-6 talking about their hopes for their playground and how to put them into action - to a host of school activities including “Wear Colours Day”, the St Paul’s community made it clear that they were determined to transform their large but grey playground to benefit the children, staff and local area and create a legacy for the future.

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Wear Colours Day at St Paul's.

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September, 2017

Mayor’s Air Quality Audit

After S Paul’s CE Primary School was initially named the second most polluted primary school in London in 2017, the school was thrilled to be invited to be part of the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Audit of 50 worst polluted primary schools in the capital. With the school being situated next to two busy main roads, Hammersmith Bridge Road and Hammersmith Flyover, which carry over a staggering 100,000 vehicles a day, Claire Fletcher, head teacher, decided to tackle the issue.