Earth Day 2026

On Tuesday 21 April, our Year 1 children warmly welcomed their families at drop-off and proudly shared their wonderful Forest School area. Together, they enjoyed planting activities, explored our new greenhouse, and made the most of the fresh air. It was a lovely morning bringing everyone together to celebrate Earth Day and our shared commitment to caring for the environment.

Our KS1 Gardening Club began last week, and it was so lovely to hear the children’s reasons for joining the club, their interest in growing often sparked by already being very involved in gardening at home or with grandparents. In their first session they planted sweet peas, leeks, radishes and mini-watermelons, and also helped work on the willow hut. Each week they will be looking after plants and helping look after and improve various areas such as at the pond and the garden at Clearview. They are going to learn so much about growing through all the fun activities planned for them over the summer term.

Stable Court also has its own Eco Warriors Club, which takes place on Wednesdays. Recently, pupils have been building dens and painting rocks found in the Walled Garden, a lovely space for Years 3–6 to explore nature and enjoy outdoor discovery together. You can read more about this in our previous blog post, Den Building, Discovery and Imagination.

In recent weeks, our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils have filled the greenhouse with their planting. They have sown seeds in trays for carrots, lettuce, peas, beans, spinach, nasturtiums and mini cucumbers. This week, Year 1 pupils have been making nature crowns in the garden, using fallen, natural materials and have also been enjoying pond dipping, giving them the chance to explore and learn more about the wildlife that shares our school environment.

Our willow hut was established around six years ago. It has been well loved and is very much enjoyed by the children for imaginative role-play and games. However, it has begun to look rather scruffy; some parts looking overgrown, other parts looking less than healthy. Our colleague in the senior school Paul Jeffrey advised us on how to restore and improve it, in a very sustainable and low-cost way by using resources we already have in our grounds. Our lovely grounds people have so far have gathered Dogwood and Hazel branches for us, which the KS1 children have helped to plant, and weave in. It is a work in progress, but the ‘walls’ are already looking much improved – our next challenge is the roof! The children have been so keen to help and are clearly proud to have been a part of this.

Support from our community

We are also very grateful to members of the school community who have kindly donated pots to support our growing areas and help us continue developing our gardening and sustainability projects and of course The Friends who have helped hugely towards our continuing development of our garden, particularly in the purchasing our greenhouse.

Many of our ideas for improving and developing our garden have also been supported by the very knowledgeable Esher Planters Club whose great work you may have seen on Esher high street (Esher in Bloom.)

Caring for our planet together

Claremont’s celebration of Earth Day is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how we continually care for our environment together as a school community. From Forest School learning and gardening projects to exploring our Wild Woods and enjoying our outdoor spaces, our pupils develop a real sense of love for and responsibility for the natural world around them. These experiences help children understand the importance of sustainability and inspire them to make small but meaningful choices that support the health of our planet, both now and in the future.