Whilst global leaders gather in Glasgow for COP26, pupils at Salisbury Cathedral School will be planting 2,500 bulbs in a bid to boost biodiversity across the school grounds.
We are delighted to announce that Salisbury Cathedral School have joined the Conservation School Award and that rewilding is now well underway within their school grounds.
With a variety of different habitats already present, we have identified a number of superb opportunities for enhancing the land to help biodiversity to regenerate and thrive within the grounds, and we are over the moon to hear of the pupils latest endeavour to plant 2,500 spring bulbs to support pollinators and other wildlife. Fantastic work!
Press release from Salisbury Cathedral School
Whilst global leaders gather in Glasgow for COP26, pupils at Salisbury Cathedral School will be planting 2,500 bulbs in a bid to boost biodiversity across the school grounds. The initiative launches the school’s involvement in the Conservation School Award hosted by the environmental charity, Operation Future Hope (OFH). Participation in the Award involves a five-year commitment to boosting biodiversity within the school grounds by creating natural habitats for native wildlife.
Pupils and staff will be planting a mix of bulbs, which are primarily native to the UK, including bluebells, daffodils, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, primroses, winter aconite, crocus and cyclamen coum. When the flowers bloom, from February to June annually, they will create spring meadows which will be beautiful as well as a plentiful source of nectar for bees and other pollinators.
‘Salisbury Cathedral School decided to join the OFH Conservation School Award scheme because it empowers young people with the knowledge, skills and experience to take real action to improve our world.’ Said Clive Marriott, Head Master of Salisbury Cathedral School. ‘Teaching children how to improve biodiversity within their own back yard – or school grounds – not only provides the skills they need to invoke change, it also improves our world right here and now.’
‘This wonderful spring meadows project will help the children understand the importance of pollination in the cycle of life. It’s an essential lesson for the future as the vast majority of plants we need for food rely on pollination to survive,’ explains Will Frost, Head of Outdoor Learning at Salisbury Cathedral School. ‘Pollinators are vital to creating and maintaining the habitats and ecosystems that many animals rely on for food and shelter. Our new spring meadows will boost biodiversity in our grounds, and the children will be able to watch the changes first hand.’
About Salisbury Cathedral School
Salisbury Cathedral School is both one of the oldest educational institutions in the world and a thriving modern preparatory school which educates more than 200 children, aged between 3 and 13, in the heart of Salisbury. Pupils study in the Bishop’s Palace, an important and beautiful listed building in the heart of the city, and play in its 27 acre campus which hosts all weather and grass sports pitches as well as a swimming pool.
About Operation Future Hope
Operation Future Hope was formed as a not-for-profit organisation in January 2018, with a vision to inform young people about the devastating decline in global wildlife populations and their habitats. The charity’s mission is to educate young people about the urgent need for ecological restoration, and to inspire them, and their families, to get involved in the great work of rewilding the Earth by starting in their school grounds.