An Andover school has been raising money towards a new community space in town while raising awareness of climate change.

Hatherden Church of England Primary School, based on Hatherden Lane, marked Andover’s Day of Climate Action by encouraging its students to wear nature-themed mufti for the day, as well as learning nature-based skills such as coppicing, pruning and wood crafts. They were raising funds for Andover Trees United’s (ATU) new cabin, whose construction is currently underway.

Lisa Bracken, the headteacher of the school , told the Advertiser: “We are excited to be raising money for a new cabin at Harmony Woods and have fully embraced dress up day. We have raised £55 in donations.

“I’ve also shared results from an energy survey I participated in, and shared what we can do differently to reduce energy consumption in the battle against climate change.”

ATU begin building ‘The Cabin’, an off-grid volunteer hub, forest school, and meeting place earlier this month, with a team of carpenters hewing the building blocks of the structure from local timber in Harmony Woods.

Hatherden students have got involved by visiting on two separate occasions to see the woods, using the knowledge gained to help tend the small woodland on the school site.

Students have been learning how to coppice hazel trees to prolong the trees’ life and to continue to provide habitats for field mice. Pupils in Reception, Year One and Year Two have been sawing and pruning the trees as well, and using it to make spatulas and mallets.

Key Stage Two pupils have used the hazel in their history lessons, using the wood to make a roundhouse as part of their exploration of prehistoric Britain.

To give back to ATU, Hatherden students raised money by dressing up in a variety of nature-themed clothes for the day, with trees, oceans and sharks all becoming pupils at the school for a day to mark Andover Climate Day of Action.

In town, this was marked by a series of market stalls and activities put onto to call on Andover to cut its carbon footprint.

At Hatherden, a special assembly was held outdoors, with students sharing ideas of how to reduce their carbon footprint, with Year Six pupil Brooke stating we should all be switching lights off while Eli, a Year One student, said everyone should take shorter showers.