Getting involved in The Tree Council’s Young Tree Champions programme couldn’t be simpler. You may wish to start small by completing Step 1, exploring our resources and training webinars, or just jump straight in and deliver all our steps to achieve Beacon school status. Whatever you and your Young Tree Champions decide, The Tree Council team and the entire Young Tree Champion community are here to help you every step of the way!
Read the guide
Step 1: Explore our website
The easiest way to start your journey to becoming a Force for Nature is to explore our website. Learn about the programme, download some of our resources and watch some fun videos, even share some of our club news or ambassador news with your school to inspire other teachers to get involved.
Explore
Step 2: Create a Young Tree Champions Club account
Creating a Club account for your school is quick and easy. By becoming a club member, you’ll be joining our community of passionate teachers and Young Tree Champions, who are all working together with each other and nature to tackle the climate crises. As a club member, you will be the first to access exclusive news and resources, as well as invitations to training, events and national competitions.
Young Tree Champion Clubs have loads of fun posting activities on club news, entering our speaking up competition and exploring their school grounds. The trick when starting your club is to start small. A lot of schools run their club as part of an existing eco-schools club, lunchtime gardening, science club, forest school or after school club. Often a club will have no more than four or five pupils, or it might be something you run with your tutor group or class.
Sign up
Step 3: Deliver a Young Tree Champions school project
When you feel the time is right, why not take Step 3 and plan and deliver a whole school project? Watch our introductory webinar to find out more, including how to decide on the goals and impact you want to achieve as a school. This might include connecting and learning activities across the curriculum, planting and caring for your trees and engaging your school community or sharing your impact locally and nationally. We have lots of free resources available, including Tree Packs, Tech Kits and a suite of teacher training.
Watch the introductory webinar
Step 4: Speak up for trees and nature
As we face the growing climate and nature crises, it is vital that we give young people the opportunity to use their voice to share their concerns and passion for trees and nature. Step 4 is an opportunity to empower your students by giving them the skills and confidence they need to speak up. Be creative – write a speech, poem or song or even create a play and submit your entry to our national competition. Engage the whole school, run your own competition or event and get local press, radio or even TV involved. Winners are announced at our annual Force for Nature Festival live on YouTube, with fantastic prizes on offer.
Find out more
Step 5: Achieve Beacon School status
Once you’ve achieved the outcomes you set out to achieve in your whole school project you can then complete and submit a project self-assessment. Completing your self–assessment is a great way of realising just how much your school has achieved and we will review the self-assessment for Beacon School status. Beacon Schools are schools that have successfully delivered a whole school project and have evidenced activities through posting on the Club Space. Beacon Schools receive additional support including opportunities to trial and develop new resources, partnerships and opportunities to arrange in-school workshops from The Tree Council.
Read the guidance
