Pupils at Thornhill Business and Enterprise College have won a prestigious award for transforming a patch of bare, waterlogged earth into a beautiful broadleaf garden.
Judges at Northumbrian Water were so impressed, the College was awarded the Best Environmental Project in the Making Waves in Your Community Competition.
Over 1,500 pupils from the school in Sunderland, together with students from Barbara Priestman and Seaview special schools were involved in creating the Tree For Life Garden in spring 2005.
The teachers and other staff got involved too and so the garden includes several dedicated trees including a history tree, a geography tree and a Scottish conifer donated by a maths teacher who was leaving. It's now dubbed the 'pine for me' tree.
All the saplings were obtained from the Woodland Trust and the garden drew inspiration from the Tree For All project.
The children enjoyed assemblies about the important role of trees in the environment before going out in groups to plant their trees. They will be encouraged to go back and visit their award-winning garden many years into the future.
November 2005
