Greenfylde First School in Ilminster wins Platinum Award

While more than 13,000 schools are signed up for the program, the platinum award - the highest level - has only been awarded to 195 schools across the country.

Greenfylde’s Forest School leader, Vernon Higgins, said: “I have been working towards this goal for a number of years, first bronze, then silver, and then the Gold Award in 2015. It was wonderful to hear that we’d made it to the last stage and been awarded Platinum in the Platinum Jubilee year.”

The Year 4 pupils of Gatcombe class have been learning all about their local trees and looking at them from a different perspective.

In the autumn, they sorted through leaves and researched different tree types, mapped their wildlife sights on Herne Hill and designed a trail through the woods to showcase the best ones, and recorded an assembly to share with their school.

Then in the spring, they went back to take bugs’- and birds’- eye photos, and then turned the images into paintings.

They dressed a tree in the school’s garden with hand-drawn wildlife bunting and wrote thanks to the trees for everything they do for us and finished with a picnic and tree-themed games to celebrate their hard work.

Emma Baker, Gatcombe class learning support assistant: “It’s great to see the children outdoors and find out about the natural world around them.

“They have learned lots of new tree facts and had a chance to really look at their local trees and woods.”

The Green Tree Schools Award program gives schools a range of practical projects and activities that help the environment and inspire children about trees, woodlands and wildlife.

Greenfylde First School has had a dedicated Forest School area since 2014, with habitats including a pond, a range of native trees, and areas of meadow.

All classes take part in regular Forest School activities, either as a whole class, in small groups, or after-school clubs.

There is an active badger set on the school grounds, and lots of other wildlife have been seen including frogs, dragonflies, slowworms, robins, ravens, squirrels, and pipistrelle bats.