Family Day — From The Ground

I’m writing this blog about a year too late. The saplings should be a year old and the children should be enjoying lessons together in the new woodland they helped to plant. Instead, much like the trees, we’re all just coming out of a Winter slumber after months of lockdown. With restrictions placed over every aspect of our lives, it has been a challenging twelve months for everyone, none more so than our children, who have missed out on so much.

The world has changed a lot since these pictures were taken just over a year ago. Revisiting the images now, they are a reminder of the project’s great hope and vision, yet they reflect vast disappointment of what has not yet been achieved. The items that were purchased using the money from the fundraising campaign still sit in the shed at the bottom of the woodland site waiting to be put to use. The new learning circle still waits to be filled with the babble of children’s voices, and the optimism that different schools would be able to come together, and learn together, seems a far flung dream.

The family day took place a week before the whole country was put into lockdown. There was a question mark over whether to even go ahead with the event, but much planning had been done and everyone was keen to get outside for what might be the last day in a very long time. Sadly, the trees didn’t get planted the following week, despite having dozens of groups of children from various different schools from across the area lined up to come and help. A year later and the site still sits empty, bereft of trees.

Planting was rescheduled for November 2020, but plans were thwarted by another lockdown, and so the event was postponed again until March 2021, when we all thought we would be out of the woods from this devastating pandemic. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

To date, the woodland is still in limbo. Some of the children and families who joined in with the family day may well have moved on to secondary school by the time the trees finally go in the ground, which we are hoping will be November 2021 - almost 18 months after they were due to be planted and two years after the initial idea was proposed.

We’re a determined bunch though. The delays will only make the planting of our trees even more special, and what a wonderful celebration it will be when it finally happens! With new growth comes renewed hope and we’ve got much to be thankful for. So for now, let’s look back on the family day, which brings back so many fond memories from a time before the ‘rule of six’.

Our good friend and landscape architect, Katy Craine, is a parent at Oakridge, the school leading the project. Her input has been pivotal in helping the scheme come to fruition. Her plan for the site laid out the locations for the saplings and provided a colour coded key linking the various different tree species to specific colour coded canes so the children would know what to plant where. Sadly, the colour coding will need to be redone as when we eventually put in our new request to the Woodland Trust for our free tree packs, (due to happen this month) it is likely that the quantities and varieties will be different to the original packs ordered. Never mind, it’s a good excuse to have another get together in the Autumn!

From the original saplings ordered in November 2019, about half have survived. They are currently being looked after by a parent. It will work in our favour, no doubt, as the old saplings will be about two years old when they finally go in the ground, helping to give the woodland a more mature feel.

The main goal for the family day was to make the site safe in readiness for the groups of school children who should have visited the following week. There were many jobs to do. These included the removal of broken fences.

There was also the rather large task of colour coding over three hundred canes, which would act as markers for the different tree species. It was a lengthy but efficient system. Masking tape was fixed to one end of a cane and then cross referenced against a colour coded key.

The children helped to set out the canes, which would be used as markers for the sapling’s locations.

A number of trees on the perimeter of the site had to be felled as they were dangerous. Sadly, there were quite a few Ash due to Ash Dieback disease. However, the wood was put to good use to create a new seating area for lessons and other group activities.

There was much discussion and head scratching over Katy’s plans…

…but lots of smiles too!

Even our four legged friends enjoyed the day…

…despite getting a thorn stuck in her paw!

Those involved with creating the Shared School Woodland were keen to make the site inclusive for the whole community. Their vision was to create a peaceful sanctuary where anybody could come and rest within nature. Many trees have been dedicated to loved ones who are sadly no longer with us. This little girl and her father were planting a tree to remember a close family member. Tree planting is a hugely therapeutic process. It is ideal for those who are grieving or missing a loved one. Children, especially, gain a lot of understanding about their own grief, and comfort too, from planting a tree and watching it grow. It gives their grief context and helps them to understand the importance of time and transition. COVID-19 has been cruel in that way - this little girl’s tree is still waiting to be planted.

It was great to see the children getting stuck in and helping with tasks. With their little lives dominated by screen time, it’s always hugely refreshing to see them reconnecting with nature and engaging with physical activity. One can’t reiterate enough just how important nature is at nurturing our minds and bodies and yet its benefits are grossly overlooked by those in charge of education in this country. The lack of opportunities within the National Curriculum is devastating for our planet and detrimental to our little people’s health and wellbeing.

After a year or so of not being able to see grandparents, one forgets the important role they play in their grandchildren’s lives. With age comes wisdom and there is a lot they can teach the younger generation.

The Shared School Woodland is an ongoing project and progress with it won’t be deterred. COVID-19 is just another challenge, which we will look back on with buoyant hearts that beat all the stronger for coming through the other side as we sit under the canopy of our trees that we’ve planted together.