These children have been busy planting trees to build a new forest area for their school.

Pupils at Greenford Church of England Primary School in Maiden Newton helped plant 240 trees for their forest school area.

Forest school is a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.

Every child at Greenford School planted a tree on the school grounds. The Woodland Trust donated trees for this project.

Mr Masters, one of Greenford’s parents, who is a West Dorset Reserves Warden at Dorset Wildlife Trust, planned and mapped out the new area and then led a team of volunteers to help each child plant a tree.

Jo Ashley, school secretary, said: “We already have an established forest school, but we are planning for the future. We are aware that in the next few years we need to grow more trees before we exhaust our existing woodland area.

“The children love the forest school. They are lucky enough to do these outdoor activities in a woodland environment. They do wood work, make fires, toast marshmallows, build dens, whittle bows and play forest-themed games like ‘foxes and rabbits’. Our members of staff are fully qualified in forest schooling.

“The trees are fast growing so hopefully in a few years we will have a nice forest area instead of a few twigs.”

“Many parents supported this project and there was a great community spirit throughout the afternoon, including parents and children from our local preschool. Thank you to all the volunteers for helping us to create a wonderful new area for the future children at Greenford School”

156 children from Greenford as well as the local children from Maiden Newton preschool and their parents came to plant trees.

The Woodland Trust gives free trees for schools and communities. They said: “We want to make sure that everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree.”

To find out more about the scheme, visit woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/free-trees