Growing a nature-rich legacy at Pinner Park Primary School
In 2022, Ground Control began an educating partnership at Pinner Park Primary School in Middlesex, starting with ‘The Big Dig’ and planting micro forests. In May 2024, we returned to the school to inspire a new generation of children.
Sporting wellies and raincoats, pupils embraced the soil, mud, and manure to plant 300 new plugs into their flourishing wildflower meadow; bed in their self-grown vegetables to a new outside patch; pick up litter in their local park; and learn more about the biodiverse haven they enjoy daily, on a guided nature walk.
On 22nd May 2024, the day began with Year 2 pupils heading across the road to support the Friends of Headstone Manor Park with a litter-picking activity in the park, as part of their Green Flag inspection. The site, Headstone Manor Park, is also a BALI principal award-winning project for ‘Nature Conservation & Biodiversity Enhancement.
Back at Pinner Park Primary School, Ground Control volunteers and landscaping experts revisited a planting project that began in 2022, when the company provided native trees, saplings, and hedgerows to the school. These were planted on-site to create food, homes, and shelter for nature. This time, the volunteers enjoyed the flourishing habitats with some new pupils, enabling them to contribute to the flowering meadow and edible garden, while inspiring the children to nurture their surroundings to encourage nature to thrive.
Pupils from reception, year one, year two and year six collectively planted 300 wildflower plugs, comprising a mixture of oxeye daisy, foxglove, and buttercup. Treading carefully, they found a spot and dug a hole for their plants, complementing the already flourishing wildflower meadow patch on their school field.
In the afternoon, the pupils planted their vegetables (which started life in pots on their classroom windows) in a dedicated patch created by Ground Control that morning. The patch was created in response to the positive reception of the orchard trees planted previously, and the school's ambition to establish an allotment on site in the future. The edible shrubs planted included beetroot, lettuce, beans, carrots, and strawberries.
As environmental experts, Ground Control also led a group of year six pupils around a biodiversity walk where they discovered that their school site is a rich haven for supporting urban biodiversity in many ways. The tour included a visit to 'BEE the Change', an urban garden and Silver Gilt Award Winning Chelsea Flower Show exhibit donated to the school in 2023. The garden now provides a welcoming presence outside the main school entrance and a haven for nature and biodiversity. Comprising native wildflower plant species and a bug hotel, carefully designed within the illustrative sign, the installation shows how biodiversity can be achieved in the smallest urban spaces.
The tour proceeded with a walk-through of natural woodland on the school’s site where timber had been recycled into outdoor furniture and habitat piles for the children and local wildlife to enjoy together. Adjacent to the natural woodland is the mico-forest planted in 2023 that's already starting to establish itself as a lush, woodland habitat designed for long-term nature recovery and carbon sequestration.
Brian Smith, Sales and Marketing Director at Ground Control commented:
