Apply now

Yes – we will provide plenty of other resources and ways for your Young Tree Champions to connect, learn and share the power of trees.

It would be useful to have recruited your Young Tree Champions, as your students will have great ideas for what you might do and any themes you may wish to focus on as a group, they are the project’s driving Force For Nature.

• Engage with existing eco-club, student council, forest school or gardening club and put your project on the agenda
• Recruit a cool young tree champion club from scratch
• Use this Young Tree Champion questionnaire to help decide what matters most to your Young Tree Champions and select a tree theme
• Discuss ideas for your activities to connect, learn, care and share within your project, and complete an action plan. You can then use this to complete the application form. You can find an example action plan here.

Yes, this is really important! Please make sure you have written permission from the landowner for the proposed location to plant the trees before completing the application form. It may be worth checking your school improvement plan for any new proposed developments onsite.

The trees have been carefully selected according to their size when mature. You have a choice of Tree Packs – Container Tree Pack, Broadleaf Tree Pack, Orchard Tree Pack and Hedgerow Pack.

• Container Fruit Tree Pack: trees will grow to 2-3m and need to be planted between 3-5m apart or can be planted in a container
• Broadleaf Tree Pack: trees will grow to 6m and need to be planted 5-8m apart
• Orchard Tree Pack: trees will grow to 3-4m and need to be planted 3m apart
• Hedgerow Pack: this contains 90 hedgerow whips. Each pack will equate to a hedgerow 15-18m in length and need to be planted between 15-20cm apart

Please note: It is not possible to select specific species from the list to create a bespoke pack.

Plant your trees where they can receive lots of sunlight and where the drainage is good. Also consider a location that is accessible to all and allows you to water your young trees and saplings regularly and easily in the first 2-3 years (eg. near an outdoor tap).

You can find out more information in our detailed planning and planting guide.

You can select one of the following tree packs:

• Container Fruit Tree Pack
• Broadleaf Tree Pack
• Orchard Tree Pack
• Hedgerow Pack

Your choice will be based on the area you have available to plant your trees.

Each tree pack (Container, Broadleaf and Orchard) consists of five mixed trees. The trees will be between 1 and 2 years old (approx. 1 – 1.5m tall) and will arrive ‘bare-rooted’ ready for immediately planting out. Your pack will include stakes, wire guards and hessian ties to support the tree for the first 2-3 years of its life.

Each hedgerow pack contains 90 hedgerow whips. Each whip is approximately 1m high and will arrive ‘bare-rooted’ ready for immediately planting out. Each pack will contain a combination of native hedgerow whips. There are no nut producing plants in any of the packs. (Hedgerow packs do not include stakes, wire guards or hessian ties.)

Further information on planting and caring for your trees will be shared through webinars and a planting and care guidance document.

The trees are perfect for creating a tree trail but you may wish to use them in other ways to support the delivery of your project – for example, to create a wildlife-friendly area or woodland classroom to support your project.

When your tree pack arrives, you will need get them into the ground straight away and give them a good water – they’ll be thirsty from their journey! Make sure you use the stakes, ties and guards to help protect your young trees from rabbits and strong winds. You will be provided with detailed instructions on how to plant and care for your trees through our webinar (Tuesday 8 February) and our detailed planning and planting guide.

Your Young Tree Champions will need to water the newly-planted trees for the first two years (roughly 20 litres of water per tree per week), especially when the weather is dry and during the Easter and summer holidays. Consider consulting a local volunteer Tree Warden to help provide advice and expertise on caring for your trees.

We will be running a webinar to support you planting and caring for your trees on Tuesday 8 February.

This project can be as big as you want to make it! We estimate that a lead teacher will typically need to allocate 4 to 6 days throughout the spring and summer terms to deliver the project from application to completion, this depends upon the amount of support they receive.

It’s important that senior management allocate time to an enthusiastic member of staff to lead the project (LSA, teacher). The lead contact will need to complete the application process, recruit the Young Tree Champions and make sure there is a plan of activities in place to plant, connect, learn, care for and share the power of trees.

Compared to growing annual plants like tomatoes and salads, your trees will require much less annual care once the trees are established. However there is more to do in the first few years in order to get them established; they’ll need to be watered regularly, weeded, mulched and guarded for the first three years.

Young Tree Champion virtual resource kits provide your young people with amazing materials with which to interact with the world of trees. The kit is designed to help you create an interactive trail, explore the science and wonder of your new or existing trees on your grounds and record a podcast to speak up for trees.

You will receive a microscope camera a lapel mic and a link to virtual resources such as tree ID.

Deliveries will be completed by late February. Schools will be notified at least a week in advance of a delivery.

A Speaking Up workshop led by Speakers Trust involves a teacher training workshop and a pupil workshop. They will be offered to a selection of this year’s Young Tree Champion schools.

• Teacher training workshops are designed to inspire teachers to develop oracy within the curriculum and will include breakout sessions to facilitate questions. The session will take place online and help to prepare teachers for their day of pupil workshops.
• Pupil workshops comprise an all-day session engaging the pupils in vocalising their personal journey to becoming a Force For Nature. These sessions will be tailored for your school and can be delivered to a club group or whole class (up to 32 pupils). Speakers Trust will contact schools directly to arrange timings and to tailor the sessions. These sessions will take place between March and May.

The teacher training workshop dates are to be confirmed. This workshop will be up to two hours.

The whole day pupil workshops will be arranged with the selected school between March and May.

Beacon Schools are determined once you have successfully completed your project and submitted a project self-assessment form. To achieve Beacon School status your school needs to demonstrate in your self-assessment and posts on your club space that you are excelling in connecting, learning and sharing the power of trees and nature both in school and at a national level (by being active on your club account). Beacon School status will be awarded at the Force For Nature festival on 15 June 2023. We also look to award two Outstanding Beacons Schools, who have gone the extra mile to be a Force For Nature – these schools receive a voucher for £200 to use for a trip or resources for their project.

Once you have achieved Beacon School status you become part of an exclusive club of schools who support the shaping and development of the Young Tree Champion programme at a national level. Opportunities include trialling new technology, applying for more tree packs and working with wider partners to develop bespoke workshops. Beacon Schools have the opportunity to deliver training for other schools and apply to receive in-school workshops and visits from our ambassadors.