As the College continues to expand and develop, one such are that we are keen to focus on is biodiversity and our commitment to the environment. As of March 2024, 1500 trees have been planted on the College’s grounds and at the end of the Spring Term, we received delivery of a further 420 to be planted.
Following delivery of the 420 trees, members of the Eco-Committee as well as other pupils from across the College took the time to plant them on our new sports pitches. The tree planting took place during an activities slot in the penultimate week of term where the pupils were shown how to plant the trees before going on to do so.
The report below comes from members of the Eco-Committee – Matthew Perry, Charlie Scott, Max Shevlane, and William Griffith:
‘On Thursday 21 March, we faced a mammoth task: we had over 400 trees to plant on the grounds of Shiplake. We enthusiastically started, knowing that we were planting a legacy. A group of Year 9 and Year 10 pupils planted a variety of trees consisting of English oaks, as well as shrubs such as silver birch, holly, wild cherry, and many more.
The trees were planted on the College’s new sports pitches alongside Reading Road. We did not just plant trees, but also a future for everyone to reflect on for decades to come. This is important because as a school, we believe that we should be aiming to increase carbon capture and increase biodiversity to support local species around our site. Our trees have been kindly donated by the Woodland Trust, who plant billions of trees yearly, so please consider supporting them and their great cause.
With our determination and motivation, we completed this mammoth task within a couple of hours by giving up activities and volunteering or joining in during an activity slot. We could not have done it without the help of 50 student volunteers and school staff. We would like to particularly thank our Head of Gardens & Supervisor of Grounds Team, Mr Reiss Phillips, who prepared the area for planting and gave up his time to teach us how to plant the trees effectively to ensure they prosper.’
Flickr album: Eco-Committee Tree Planting, March 2024 |
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