Creating wildlife corridors at Beaumont School

Lucy Bomphrey

Pupils at Beaumont School standing in front of wildlife corridors

Beaumont School is a secondary school with 1,600 pupils in St Albans. Students in their Sustainability Club have been driving forward the Nature Park programme in their school by planting mini orchards and hedgerows to create wildlife corridors.

Transforming outdoor space

Much of the school site at Beaumont is surrounded by trees, a patch of ancient woodland and a pond. The wild areas are interspersed with the concrete playgrounds, car parks and strips of monoculture grass.

The Sustainability Club, (which is open for any student to get involved with), decided to make a positive impact on the school site by using the Nature Park programme. The programme helped them to map out the natural habitats on site and identify areas which would benefit from improvement. They formed an Eco Council with a representative from each class to help decide on the most impactful changes to the existing natural areas.

With support and guidance from staff, students decided to 'rewild' large strips of grass by seeding them with native flower seeds and plugs. Planting days were a great opportunity to engage students and staff, who worked together to establish a mini orchard and two hedgerows of 140 saplings to create wildlife corridors across the school site. Bee-friendly flowers in borders and pots have been planted.

Due to high costs of maintaining trees, the school focused on planting hedgerows. However, they still face seasonal battles with weeds and drought so have to keep a close eye on the hedgerows.

"The Nature Park programme has had a really positive effect on our school. The surveying has really spurred our sustainablilty team on by highlighting areas in our school that needed the most attention. The feature of finding nature in unexpected places also made us hopeful, which was nice and unexpected. We also really enjoyed the planting because getting outside is fun and we also felt like we were really making a difference in our school."
Rosie, student

Supporting lessons and wellbeing

Planting around the school has definitely combatted my eco anxiety, as it feels great to be doing something tangible to combat all the issues facing the environment at the moment. An unexpected benefit of surveying the school was my new-found love of seeing plants growing in unlikely places. Now whenever I spot a shoot of green amongst the concrete it brings a smile to my face.
Isobel, student

The changes that have been made to the school site have been supporting learning, both while they were being implemented and beyond.

‘Before and after’ surveying has been undertaken by A Level students
The wilded areas are being used in lessons to help understand succession
Three students successfully led a Teach the Teacher course on climate change and then gave assemblies to all year groups
A nature diary is included in the staff wellbeing newsletter with the hope that if staff enjoy nature, they will also help the students with its protection

"The surveys have been enjoyable and a fun learning experience. We learnt lots of new skills that were unexpected."
Tilly, student

Overcoming obstacles – some top tips!

Beaumont School have shared some of their top tips to ensure that your nature-based improvements are a success!

Get your voice heard – If it matters, be persistent when suggesting positive impactful changes. Present your evidence with gusto supported by your values to help get your ideas heard.
Make sure everyone is aware of your project – flagging projects to your site team and contractors such as the team mowing the site to make sure the wild areas aren't accidentally mown, and protect saplings and wild areas with rope, stem guards and signs.
Run projects past site managers – ensure that everyone is working together protecting the natural sites as much as possible. This creates awareness when decisions are made on future site projects.
Don't give up – be inspired, ask advice and let a positive approach guide your sustainable school success.

"The Nature Park has made me see nature from its point of view."
Benjamin, student

Looking ahead and reaping the rewards

With a huge building project planned for the school, (which will make the the site carbon neutral by completion), staff and students are planning to keep environmental protection top of the agenda throughout all stages of the school’s building work.

Despite the challenge a school rebuilding project presents, the benefits of continuing to promote nature in school are enormous. Biodiversity has increased, with orchids being spotted and crickets being heard for the first time on the school grounds. Beaumont has established a strong community with shared, respected values and provided an outlet for students to make positive changes.

They hope that the legacy of students' and staff's work will be healthy hedges, wild areas, ponds and pollinator-friendly beds. The hope is that they will not only benefit wildlife but also enable education on the value of biodiversity and sustainability, and provide a more enjoyable and pleasant environment for the students.

In the future, students aim to establish a living wall, improve the pond, set up a wellbeing walk, and increase the level of parent involvement in projects. We can't wait to see more!