Priors Hall Primary School in Corby gets its own huge forest garden

A forest of more than 550 trees has been planted at Priors Hall Primary School in Corby

A flowering meadow and a pathway through the new areas have also been created to help children enjoy the outdoor spaces at the school.

Urban&Civic, the master developer of Corby’s growing community at Priors Hall Park, has teamed up with its grounds' maintenance provider CGM to donate the landscape improvement works.

The forest features three mature 4.5m Silver Birche trees, apple trees, alder buckthorn, field maple, hornbeam and shrubby honeysuckle. The 1000m2 flowering meadow will have an immediate impact this summer once the seed has germinated and meadow has established, providing a stunning floral display that will enhance the bio-diversity of the area.

Once fully established the woodland will provide a rich source of food and habitat for nature, as well as a new interactive way for the children to learn about ecology and the environment. The main playing field has also been slit, fertilised and overseeded to help produce a healthy grass surface which can be used all year round.

This charitable contribution benefits local education and ecology, which are two of Urban&Civic’s key priorities for the Priors Hall Park community and complements the master developer’s ongoing partnership and governance in the school.

Nigel Wakefield, Development Director for Urban & Civic at Priors Hall Park, said: “Our role as master developer goes far beyond delivering bricks and mortar – we are equally committed to investing in the community and quality of life at Priors Hall Park. Our aim is to work with our key partners and local organisations to help build a bright future for our residents. Of course, that means that we want to see the Primary School and its pupils succeed, so we’re delighted to create a natural woodland area that can be used as an educational tool for many years. It’s incredibly rewarding for us to be able to support our community, and we hope the donation will make a difference to education of local pupils.”

Priors Hall School’s Outdoor Learning Lead and Teacher, Kristina Martin, said: “We have been so excited to watch our grounds turn from an open field into a woodland area for our children and staff to enjoy walking through and to experience watching the trees mature. The wild flower meadow is going to create a huge difference to the ecosystem and give many opportunities for the children to study wildlife, plants and nature. We thank Urban&Civic and CGM for all of their hard work in making all this happen for us”

Headteacher Tess McQuade said: “It has already made a huge difference to the school grounds and I am delighted that the children are going to have this amazing opportunity, to be part of growing our very own woodland and meadow area. A lot of time and effort has been spent in making this happen for us and I would personally like to thank everyone involved.”

Syd Townsend, Senior Operations Manager West at CGM, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Urban & Civic and Priors Hall Park to develop this natural woodland and meadow area. At CGM we are dedicated to developing the local community for future generations to enjoy and benefit from.”

Once complete, Priors Hall Park will offer over 5,300 new homes.