Our new outdoor classroom
Last month the government announced it's Sustainability and Climate Change strategy for the education sector, requiring schools to provide more environmental education, reduce the schools footprint and adapt the school estate to more extreme weather. It will form a key part of the government’s Net Zero Strategy, ensuring that our students are prepared for a future increasingly marked by a warming climate.
At CSG we have made a start in our preparations to deliver on this strategy.
Our first major achievement is that our outdoor classroom is near completion. We have taken the area between the sixth form block, a little-used grassy area, and have transformed it into great learning space. This is what the site looked like a year ago.
Since September this year, we have been having discussions with the local sustainability organisation Think and Do Camden about ways to improve the school grounds.
We discussed the possibility of turning one of the green spaces in the school into a "microforest". The idea is that, by planting native tree species close together, you encourage them to grow quickly as they compete for light but share the resources of the soil with each other.
This also encourages other native species, like insects, birds and fungi, to move into the area.
Think and Do Camden in conjunction with Dreams for Trees, eventually came up with a plan for the space, which also included a wildflower area, and sourced us hundreds of young trees (or whips) and four apple trees.
Over five weekends in February and March, students, parents, teachers and volunteers from Think and Do Camden gave their time to come and prepare the soil and plant the trees. The last weekend was a frantic dash to get all the whips in the ground before the end of the day. Below is a photograph of the completed site.
The outdoor classroom will provide a multitude of benefits for CSG students and the environment.
All teachers will soon be required to integrate environmental and sustainability education into their curriculum.
For our students, it will provide an area where they can study wildlife in a natural habitat or take inspiration from nature for projects in art or English. They can gain a familiarity with our native species and see how they interact with each other.
It also provides a new peaceful outdoor area for students to enjoy during break times. For the environment, not only will this microforest increase local biodiversity, it will also store carbon, reduce air and noise pollution from Camden Road and provide natural air conditioning for the school.
Below is a wood pile habitat we created for the local wildlife.
There is still some work that needs to be done in improving the school grounds. We are hoping to increase provisions for food growing, by expanding our allotment. This will be a great opportunity for students to learn practical gardening skills and help them to appreciate where food comes from.
We hope that we can increase the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables used in the food tech lessons or even the school's canteen.
If you would like to contribute to our continuing work, we have set up a GoFundMe page.
A Gregan
Science Teacher
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