A Stockton-on-Tees primary school is celebrating after receiving national recognition for its commitment to nature and protecting the environment.

Rosebrook Primary School is the only school in the North-East to achieve Outstanding Beacon School status from The Tree Council for its ‘Rooted in Nature’ project.

The Tree Council is a national body that brings everyone together with a shared mission to care for trees and the planet’s future.

There are over 5000 schools working with The Tree Council and Rosebrook is one of only 10 schools throughout the country to be judged an Outstanding Beacon School.

Lois Huntington, who has led on the initiative at Rosebrook Primary School, said: “We have been developing our ‘Rooted in Nature’ programme at Rosebrook for a number of years now and to be awarded Outstanding Beacon School status is testament to the hard work and commitment from pupils, staff and everyone else associated with the project.

“Every child in the school is encouraged to develop their connection with the natural world through our Forest School initiative. We recently took part in the National ‘Big Green Week’ with classes learning about a range of topics from litter, plastic pollution, climate change through to composting, trees, bees and pollinators and during Careers Week we had visits from people working in the environmental sector.”

Three of the school’s Junior Tree Ambassadors along with their parents travelled to Cardiff recently to accept the award on behalf of the school.

Lois Huntington continued: ““Across the school we have a wide range of projects where the focus is on trees and nature – many of which involve outdoor learning – which link to the curriculum.”

Other school initiatives include:

• Junior Tree Ambassadors who speak up for nature
• Building a ‘bug resort’ to increase the range of habitats
• Participating in Stockton Council’s Youth Climate Action group
• Appointing Eco-Warriors to ensure the playground is litter free
• Planting trees at Preston Park
• Participating in the Tree Council’s ‘Speaking up for Nature’ competition
• Developing a school orchard to harvest fruit which can be shared
• naming all school classes after trees

Rosebrook is one of ten primary schools across Teesside and County Durham under the umbrella of Ad Astra Academy Trust.

Andy Brown OBE, Chief Executive Officer of Ad Astra, commented: “This is a significant achievement, and I would like to thank everyone connected with the project for their commitment and tireless efforts.

“The world is facing significant environmental challenges, and it is great to see Rosebrook leading the way in tackling some of these challenges.”

The other Ad Astra Academy Trust schools are Crooksbarn in Stockton-on-Tees, Ayresome and Sunnyside in Middlesbrough, Barnard Grove, Brougham, West Park and West View in Hartlepool and Deaf Hill and Kelloe in County Durham.

Ad Astra Academy Trust was formed in 2015 and over the last eight years has grown across the Tees Valley, providing education for over 3,500 pupils and 525 employees in Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool.

11 July 2024

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Click on the link below to hear more when BBC Radio Tees presenter Amy Oakden visited the school.