Students at St Dunstan’s College, Catford, south-east London, have marked the start of the Platinum Jubilee year by planting a number of new trees on the school grounds.
This year, students will plant more than 70 trees on the school’s two sites in Catford, in honour of Her Majesty’s service and duty during her seven-decade reign.
Speaking about the occasion, St Dunstan’s Headmaster Nicholas Hewlett said: ‘It was wonderful to see the students, both junior and senior, involving themselves in the tree planting.
‘Our whole community, along with future generations, will be able to enjoy the new trees across our two sites. The College will be marking the Jubilee with further celebrations in the summer.’
The first set of new trees were planted in two locations; next to the Junior School and around the Senior School ecology pond. During the planting, students got to learn more about the planting process and how the trees would grow in the coming days and years.
The new trees, donated to the school by the Trees Council, included wild cherry, downy birch, field maple, mountain ash and goat willow. Apple, cherry, plum and pear trees were also planted, alongside dogwood, blackthorn and hawthorn hedging.
The new trees will continue St Dunstan’s sustainability drive, helping to attract biodiversity to the school grounds and improve air quality. In recent years, the school has put sustainability at the forefront of its development planning. A Junior School woodland classroom was built during the first lockdown, and last year, a senior ecology pond was added to the school grounds. Both have attracted wildlife with frogs, tadpoles, newts, squirrels, foxes and parakeets all being spotted in the new areas.
The Sustainability Committee, led by the Bursar, Mrs Clair Wilkins, has also introduced initiatives such as no plastic bottles in the Refectory, plant-based options at lunch and the installation of more cycle racks to allow more students and staff to cycle into school.
St Dunstan’s College will mark the Platinum Jubilee in the summer. Further announcements will be made in due course.
