Boost for outdoor classroom in Heaton (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Boost for outdoor classroom in Heaton
10:00am Monday 11th February 2013 in News By Telegraph & Argus
PLAN: Students pictured with Ian Butterfield of Forest of Bradford and assistant head teacher Vlad Waley at the nature haven used as an outdoor classroom
A nature haven used as an outdoor classroom has a bright future.
Pupils at Belle Vue Girls’ School have been planting 54 new trees on the site to secure its future for decades to come.
The outdoor classroom in Heaton, Bradford, was created in 2011 on land owned by the school’s neighbours, Hallmark Cards, and is used to teach subjects from ecology to art.
It is a registered place of scientific interest and contains rare natural flora and fauna. The pupils planted broadleaf trees with help from the Forest of Bradford, an organisation which works to increase tree cover throughout the district. Assistant head teacher Vlad Waley said: “The trees that we have in the outdoor classroom are over 200 years old and now we are trying to provide new trees for future generations, because the 200-year-old trees will not last forever.
“It’s a fantastic area for us to have, that piece of land, and it’s thanks to Hallmark. If we didn’t have such a great neighbour we wouldn’t have the area, because it’s their land.”
The school’s 54 forms raised the money to buy a tree each and a guard to protect it from deer through collecting donations from the community.
