The Eco School group beside their newly planted hedge in Dungannon Park

On Tuesday 3 December, pupils from Key stages 3 & 4 travelled the short journey to Nunnery Hill in Dungannon Park to engage in a Tree Planting activity. This was organised by the Dungannon Council and the Eco Action Group and is part of the school’s aim to achieve ‘Green Flag’ status next year. Armed with spades and tree/hedge saplings, we were given the task of digging out plots of turf and planting the saplings, creating a long L-shaped hedge when we finished.

Some gardeners from the council educated us on how to plant the hedge, what types of trees to use and also how we can continue gardening in our own school. Howard Primary School also attended the Tree Planting, and together we planted even more trees at the Community Garden on Nunnery Hill. We learnt what ‘native’ trees were, and why they were a better choice for the environment and local animals. The weather was great, and we all had a fantastic day in Dungannon Park. We hope the tree planting has helped towards RSD achieving a Green Flag, as well as helping our school begin planting our own trees later in the year.

The Eco School committee would like to thank all the pupils who helped with the Tree Planting including Mr Willis, Mark Werpachowski and especially the Dungannon Council for organising this fun and valuable experience.

Faye Acheson, Year 10