by Jenny Marks
23rd October 2025
Yorkshire Rewilding Network (YRN) committee member and project lead Jenny Marks explains more about this exciting initiative to bring rewilding to schools in our region. What better way to engage children, parents, teachers and the whole community with the joys and benefits of restoring nature?
The beginning of this project, just over two years ago, came about through chat, personal interest and a series of happy coincidences.
Whilst running a road safety campaign, I met Richard Sheriff, CEO of Red Kite Learning Trust (RKLT), a multi–academy trust with 16 schools in Harrogate and Leeds. Having discovered that I was closely involved in YRN, with a background in conservation land management, Richard asked me to come in and speak to him and RKLT Head of Estates, Sam Shuttleworth, about rewilding their school grounds. We decided that the best plan would be to involve school pupils in the rewilding process from the start, with our first step being to do a habitat survey of the grounds, to understand our baseline.… and so began the Red Kite Rewilding Initiative. I just needed to find some simple survey methodology. This was in July 2023, just before the school holidays.
In early October 2023, a national project, National Education Nature Park, was launched, led by the Natural History Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society. This provides free resources for participating schools, including simple survey methodology for habitat mapping with children – exactly what we needed for the rewilding project! It was perfect timing.
We decided to pilot the Red Kite Rewilding Project at three schools in Harrogate: Rossett Acre Primary School, Rossett School and Harrogate Grammar School (both secondary). They all have extensive green space, connected via a small nature reserve, but none had previously undertaken any significant improvements for biodiversity. It was an ideal place to begin. Over the winter 2023/24, I met lead teachers from each school, assigned to the project as part of their sustainability agenda. They decided on the best groups of children to work with at their schools, whether this was an eco-committee or student leadership, and signed up to the Nature Park. I also did a presentation to the RKLT Sustainability Board, with teacher and pupil representatives from each of the RKLT schools, making everyone aware of what was planned.
In May-July 2024 students from the pilot schools undertook surveys to create habitat maps of their school grounds using the Nature Park’s simple but rigorous scientific methodology. The pupils were excited to know that the results would contribute to one of the biggest community science projects in the country, being used by scientists to better understand the state of biodiversity in England.
On the mapping days, we also looked for rewilding opportunities, discussing themes such as natural processes, connectivity, soil health and carbon capture by healthy habitats. Following on from this, the lead teachers and I met with other stakeholders at the schools, including PE teachers, site managers, business managers and head teachers. In early 2025 the schools signed off new nature-friendly habitat activity plans for their school grounds and ground maintenance contractors were asked to alter their management regimes. At all sites, this meant less frequent cutting of grass wherever possible, aiming for a range of different grass lengths, and an increase in connected wilder habitat. It wasn’t a seamless transition to the new regime, with initial teething problems, but the change of approach to grounds ‘management’ seems to be bedding in well now. One exciting and very visible result was the appearance of common spotted orchids on the front lawn of one of the schools.
Other interventions, including tree planting, were identified at the schools – with the most extensive area at Rossett School. Tim Milburn, Headteacher there, was keen to create a positive legacy that students left when they finished school. Tree planting seemed the perfect way to do this. In April and May 2025 pupils planted 345 native trees, provided for free by The Woodland Trust. Every year group was involved in planting trees over a two-week period. It was so nice seeing the pupils connecting with the natural world, having fun and getting muddy (occasionally after initial suspicion), with some students having never planted anything before. The planting now links a previously isolated old oak tree with woodland in the nature reserve on the other edge of the school site. In time, it will make a beautiful, verdant corridor right into the centre of the school, meaning children and staff can look at greenery, rather than the building opposite, and creating much needed shade and shelter for wildlife and people alike. This winter, the school plans to plant 345 more trees and an area of wildflowers, using Year 7 pupils, and volunteers found through YRN.
The project was influenced by the work of Lesley Malpas, CEO of Operation Future Hope and author of ‘The Rewilding Manual for Schools: A guide to restoring nature in your school grounds’. I joined a YRN call with Lesley in October 2023, and she later ran a webinar for us (available for you to watch on the YRN website, see useful links below). It was invaluable to hear how she went about rewilding schools in Dorset. I also received inspiration from YRN summer site visits to the fabulous, wild grounds of Grimes Dyke Primary School in Leeds, a Nature Park school. They have fully embedded nature in the curriculum, with all children accessing the whole of the wild grounds every day, come rain or shine.
Expanding the project
The pilot project was a great success, with a new approach to management now part of the regular maintenance of the school grounds, bringing about lasting improvements for biodiversity and climate. Other benefits of the initiative included:
- Deepening environmental understanding and STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for pupils,
- Enhancing wellbeing and connection to nature,
- Building student leadership on environmental matters,
- Supporting whole-school sustainability goals.
With such a result from the pilot project the YRN committee were keen to do more. We were therefore delighted when an opportunity to fund the roll-out of the project to other RKLT schools came this summer. YRN’s new headline business sponsor ENGIE have generously funded the project for a year (until August 2026) as part of their commitment to community funding. As well as increasing the number of RKLT schools involved in rewilding their school grounds, the project seeks to share knowledge with those outside the Trust who may wish to make biodiversity improvements in their own school grounds.
Since July, nine new schools have said they are keen to be part of the initiative, bringing the total to 12 schools, which is fantastic! The project will:
- Work with children and staff at schools to join the Nature Park and map the habitats that exist on their site.
- Look for opportunities for nature improvements, seeking to increase connectivity of natural habitat across the school site, linking to external green space where possible.
- Develop a rewilding vision with staff and pupils.
- Create a habitat activity plan which will be implemented to increase biodiversity in the school grounds and help to achieve the rewilding vision.
- Help schools to carry out specific interventions identified in the activity plan, such as tree planting or creating a green roof.
- Increase understanding of nature-friendly land management, rewilding principles and natural processes in the school community.
I am the Project Leader. Claire Blindell – who has prior experience with YRN – will work around one day a week as project officer, and Anna Williams from the YRN committee is assisting with mapping. We also have two volunteers experienced in environmental education and planning.
During the pilot, I established a strong relationship with the Yorkshire and Humber Nature Park team, who will continue supporting us by running assemblies and activity days at both existing and new schools. Dates are already set for September, October, and beyond, so stay tuned for project updates.
Get Involved with the Rewilding Schools Project
If you or your company would like to support the Rewilding Schools project, we’d really love to hear from you. There are lots of ways to get involved whether that’s by helping to fund some of the activities we have planned or by supporting more project officer time.
This project has so much potential to make a real difference – not just for the children and their future, but also for the school grounds themselves. Right now, we’re limited by how much time each of us can give, so any extra paid officer time (even just a few hours) would help us do even more. You can get in touch by emailing info@yorkshirerewildingnetwork.org.uk, please title your email ‘Rewilding Schools project’. Thank you!
Useful links:
National Education Nature Park
YRN Webinar: Rewilding Britain’s Schools – empowering young people to reconnect with nature and shape the future with Lesley Malpas
[Image Credits: Jenny Marks for YRN and RKLT]