Rewilding Matters at Eaton House The Manor

Eaton House The Manor takes sustainability very seriously, and beautiful Clapham Common opposite the school offers many chances to step up and do some good for the environment.

On October 3, Eaton House The Manor Prep boys and staff found that rewilding actions could be fun. The Prep Eco Committee, and a number of our support staff, did their bit by planting wild flowers on Clapham Common. This is part of a whole series of actions at Eaton House The Manor designed to promote a greener world, from on-site conservation to class projects.

In the summer, the Manor Prep boys chose Green Day to celebrate and protect this precious space, again with a little help from the Eco Committee. Led by then Head Boy, Jasper B., they collected money for Wild Clapham (the Friends of Clapham Common). As an active environmental charity, FCC runs conservation projects to improve the Common’s biodiversity and to restore its buildings and facilities. They plant trees, shrubs, bulbs and turf and renew wetland areas. The boys raised £150, with pupils donating their own money to plant hawthorns and celandine.

As well as raising money, Year 6 enjoyed pond dipping, which the boys found inspiring, with the help of Froglife, a charity committed to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles – frogs, toads, newts, snakes and lizards. ‘The facts that Henry from Froglife taught us were amazing, especially that wildlife can be found at all levels of the pond,” said Louis M.

Litter-picking also proved to be very satisfying. ‘I loved it.’ said Jing P. ‘This experience was a step-up from usual school life. The day enlarged my knowledge and expanded my thoughts of our world.’

The Spinney is a space on Clapham Common given over to getting muddy. You can paint a fence, make all sorts of concoctions in the mud kitchen, build shelters, take refuge in the book tent, fill and push a wheelbarrow, discover with magnifying glasses, plant, grow and have fun with water.

Year 7 helped to build fences and Rehaan S. said: ‘We were injected with pride while constructing a city for the native wildlife of the Common.’