Pupils in Year 1 were recently invited to join forces with BBC Radio Gloucestershire and help plant native saplings in Cheltenham.

On Friday 28 January, pupils in Year 1 had an amazing opportunity to walk to Cox’s Meadow and be a part of the ‘Ourboretum’ project, run by BBC Radio Gloucestershire. ‘Ourboretum’ is a project started by the BBC to replace the many trees lost through ash dieback and the earlier dutch elm disease. It involves growing and replacing native English trees such as beech, oak and hazel.

Our wonderful Teaching Assistant, Mrs. Randell, collected some acorns during the winter of 2020-2021 and planted them in a pot; when she heard about the ‘Ourboretum’ project on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, she immediately knew that she wanted to donate the young trees to the project! Thanks to Mrs Randell our pupils were able to help plant her seven saplings as a contribution.

The children loved having the chance to watch Mrs Randall get interviewed live for BBC Radio Gloucestershire. To add to the excitement, they were amazed to find out that one of the spades they used to plant the saplings was once used by The Queen to plant a tree in Cheltenham many years ago! 

It will be lovely for our youngest pupils to watch these saplings blossom into trees, just as they too will develop and grow throughout their time at The Prep and beyond.