Jubilee tree will be focus of new school garden
Borestone Primary School has been gifted a tree as part of a nationwide initiative to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Deputy Lord Lieutenant Robin Iffla, the Queen’s representative in the local area, and Provost Christine Simpson joined children and staff at the school recently to plant the Schwartz Glory Birch tree.
The tree, which is two-three metres in height and will grow to 20 metres tall and 10 metres wide, will form the centrepiece of a community garden in the school.
Pupils, parents, carers and the local community will all be involved in the project which will support the children in their sustainability and eco learning.
The tree has been planted as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy campaign that encourages people to ‘plant a tree for the Jubilee’, which will be commemorated next year.
Headteacher Linda Dawson said: “It is a real honour for our Borestone community to be presented with the Queen’s Jubilee tree. We are all delighted and truly blessed that it stayed fair for the tree-planting ceremony – it was wonderful.
“We will be working with pupils, parents and community members to create something that is for the good of the whole community.
“The children have created designs, high school pupils will be supporting us to build structures and we have some keen gardeners who are willing to support the children with their learning for sustainability and eco projects.”
Pupils had taken part in a competition to design the community garden, with the winners from each class invited to the tree-planting ceremony.
The event also featured presentations from each class that included singing and poetry, with piping provided by Stirling High School pupil Issac Paterson.
Provost Simpson said: “I was honoured to be invited to this special event to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and which highlighted Borestone Primary’s commitment to learning for sustainability and enhancing the local environment.
“The children’s designs for the garden were inspiring and it will be a fantastic asset for the community when completed.”
The Queen and the Prince of Wales planted a tree at Balmoral Castle along with children from nearby Crathie Primary School at the start of October to kick-off the special initiative.
Mr Iffla said: “It was a privilege to represent Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in presenting the tree to Borestone Primary School, as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
“Borestone Primary was the school chosen to represent Stirling as one of the 69 cities in the UK and Crathie Primary School made up number 70, which represents one for each year of Her Majesty’s years of service.
“It was fantastic to see the level of involvement from each year group of the school surrounding not just the planting but taking up the spirit of the QGC to communities and individuals to plant a tree for the jubilee.”