Gospel Oak has a fantastic outdoor space with raised vegetable beds and a gardener that comes in once a week to garden with the students, as well as tend to the beds in the playground which have herbs and fruit trees. Growing in the playground has been a challenge for the school in the past but they’ve found moving a few plants around and choosing more robust plants has helped to create really fantastic full beds in the playground.
The school has a separate Forest School space that they take classes in and the pupils get to learn about nature through play and den building.
The space has become rather overgrown over the lockdowns so they have a team of corporate volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) led by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to help clear the space in May.
Work will include:
- Clearing bramble and self-set trees to create a wildflower meadow
- Restoring seating by sanding and varnishing
- Cutting back vegetation from the pathways
- Building an insect hotel for the students to fill
They have plans for additional raised beds, food growing space, and renovating the pond that we’ll try to support! Welcome to the BeeLine, Gospel Oak!
