Students help set up Community Tree Nursery

Our Ticket students have played a key role in transforming a quiet corner of the college into a thriving Community Tree Nursery where hundreds of trees are being grown for planting across the campus. 

The transformation has been two years in the making, with Ticket students and staff working together to put in place everything needed to both grow trees from seed and provide a base for their outdoor learning. 

The nursery features a polytunnel flanked by wildflower drift areas, potting tables, raised beds made from railway sleepers, sheds with rainwater harvesting, and a large wooden gazebo providing a sheltered seating area. 

Ticket students have been actively involved throughout the project, which started in September 2023 with clearance of a piece of the college’s land that was once an orchard. As the nursery has developed, the students have helped build and install its core components.  

The project was made possible thanks to grants from the Norfolk Community Foundation and Norfolk County Council, together with a donation of six fruit trees from the Tree Council.    

The idea behind Community Tree Nurseries is to bring people together and nurture stronger relationships with nature by growing and planting trees, many of which are broadleaf species from seeds collected within a short distance of their nursery site. 

There are currently around 450 trees being grown in the tree nursery, which will eventually be planted throughout the 160 hectares of the Easton College estate.  

The Ticket course, which is part of the college’s Inclusive Learning offer for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), provides bespoke small group learning, with a focus on key employability and social skills, to support young people in their progression to adult life. 

Ticket students are given opportunities to apply their learning outside college through work experience at the John Innes Centre, Whitlingham Country Park and UEA. 

The students also develop their employability skills in college through enterprise activities, which include making and selling fruit chutneys and herbal tea bags. 

Among the Ticket students currently thriving on the course is Scarlett, who says, “We like outdoor classrooms. You feel more free and you can clear your mind a lot easier.” 

Ticket lecturer Karen Dunlop says that the tree nursery is bringing important benefits to the students: 

The tree nursery is a place where students can feel a bit of ownership. They have played a key role in creating the tree nursery and are involved in all the different tasks we need to do each week, from propagating seeds, to watering and looking after the saplings, as well as mowing, trimming, and maintenance jobs.

 

The good thing about growing trees is that it's slow processes. We can all sit around the table and learn together and talk together. The students aren’t just learning about nature and plant science, they are also developing their communication skills, confidence and teamwork - all those sorts of skills come into it as well.” 

The many positives from the tree nursery are not limited to the two groups of Ticket students who use it. The tree nursery is also available to other Inclusive Learning students at Easton, who are encouraged to visit and get involved whenever they can.

The following short film from the Tree Council, featuring Easton College students and staff, has more information about Community Tree Nurseries.