How school pupils brought a neglected planter back to life

The School Council at Brook Street Primary School Carlisle

I would love for this to grow and for people to see what they could do where they live.

A neglected old planter outside Brook Street Primary School in Carlisle has been transformed thanks to the hard work of the school’s pupils, volunteers from Multicultural Cumbria and the Community Team at The Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

“On the street outside the school was an old planter made of red brick. It had become overgrown, full of dog poo and beer bottles,” said Ruth Alcroft, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Education Officer.

Children from the school council were encouraged to make the decisions at each step of the project, with the support of the school’s Pastoral Support Work, Julie Park, headteacher, Jonathan Burnsall, and Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s education officer, Ruth Alcroft.

“I started attending their meetings and gave a talk about what I’m doing,” said Ruth. “The headteacher wants the kids on the council to have real power and they were really keen.”

A group of volunteers serve themselves refreshment outside. — The Men's Diaspora Group helped refurbish the planter and prepare it for the planting day. Image credit: Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

What support did the school receive?

The school had been pledged money by a local councillor to put towards renovating the planter, but they needed more than just financial support; they also needed to learn how and what to plant.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust invited the kids to its wildlife garden and plant nursery at Gosling Sike where they could see what the lifecycle of plants looked like from seed to fully grown. With the help of Ruth, the pupils mapped out their planter and decided which plants would go where.

The kids chose wildlife-friendly plants, including bird’s-foot trefoil, water avens, common thyme, borage, ox-eye daisies, meadow crane’s-bill and wild carrot.

From idea to reality

In the run up to planting day, volunteers from the Men’s Diaspora group, part of Multicultural Cumbria came to help prepare the ground, creating a clean and clear area for the kids to plant on. The school council also got their classmates involved by running a competition to create posters to promote the new planter.

“People who’ve been involved have realised that they can make a difference – that things can be different, that people do want to support them,” she said. “I would love for this to grow and for people to see what they could do where they live.”

To read the full story, head to Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s website here.