Volunteers joined pupils to launch an environmental project at The Whitehaven Academy that includes a football pitch with trees for goalposts and cameras to track wildlife.
The ambitious woodland creation scheme is a collaboration between the school and Raise: Cumbria Community Forest.
It is also supported by Fibrus, which is providing full-fibre broadband across Cumbria and is keen to ensure that it can also have a positive impact on the local environment by supporting a range of eco projects.
A team of Fibrus volunteers braved the blustery weather to dig alongside pupils to get the first lot of saplings planted to create a shelter belt.
The Fibrus contribution also includes a set of trail cameras to allow the students to keep an eye on the wildlife they will be encouraging to the area.
The Whitehaven Academy’s new community woodland started from the pupils’ own ideas developed by the student-led eco-committee.
Nigel Youngman, headteacher, said: “Our eco-committee is passionately dedicated to pioneering impactful initiatives such as this, and the community’s invaluable support in transforming their vision into a reality is fantastic to see.”
Eco-committee deputy, Ethan McConnell, of year 11, said: “The trail cameras will let us see wildlife in an area we are calling the Cumbrian Savannah. We know a family of deer visits, but it’ll be great to monitor them.”
Lead for the Outdoor Learning programme at The Whitehaven Academy, David McCabe said: “We have been working on this for 18 months. At the start of this process, we held a day of action where we asked the school what we could do to make it better.
“The students gave us their creative ideas, then we worked with Raise to bring it together and turn it into plans we could deliver. This will support our outdoor learning as well as many other areas of the curriculum and school life.”
Outdoor learning is an important part of The Whitehaven Academy’s curriculum with a broad range of topics taught in the school grounds and the wider local area, he added.
Rachel Bain, environmental and sustainability expert for Fibrus, said: “The students’ enthusiasm and commitment to improving their environment is fantastic. We love to get involved in this kind of work and to get muddy helping out with the tree planting.
“This is a fantastic collaboration as we take our responsibilities to the environment very seriously. When James from Raise asked if we could get involved in the project with The Whitehaven Academy we were delighted. We’re looking forward to coming back to see how it develops.”
Fibrus is delivering the Hyperfast GB project; a £108 million Government contract to provide full-fibre broadband for up to 60,000 rural homes and businesses across Cumbria. As part of this project, Fibrus is working in partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust to invest in the creation of wildlife habitats and pollinator sites in the county. The company is also keen to work with other partners such as Raise, who are supporting the creation of new woodland as part of the Cumbria Community Forest.
The transformation will include a football area where trees will be planted to serve as goalposts; hanging gardens; raised beds and orchards to grow produce for school kitchens; a sensory rain garden; an improved bushcraft area; trees for shade and shelter and to frame the view of Ennerdale.
Year 10 pupil Robyn Irving, who is lead for the eco-committee, said: “There will be two natural areas with banked seating – one facing the hills because we’re proud of our view and one facing the school because we’re also proud of our school.”
“This will be a huge positive change for the school. If we make the school look better people will enjoy being here even more.”
There will also be a sensory rain garden where students and staff can go to relax and unwind. It will have scented plants like lavender and meadowsweet.
Community foresters from Raise, which is part of the Community Forest Network, have been working with the school for 18 months to help the student’s woodland vision bloom into life.
Director James Cobbold said: “Our aim is to connect community with nature. We are delighted to be co-creating this woodland here, which will enrich the lives of these pupils and the lives of future generations.
“Planting will be finished in April, but the project is a 15-year relationship that will support the young people to take part in the maintenance and upkeep of the site. It’s a long-term project.”
