5th October 2026
We’re delighted to celebrate the fantastic achievements of students of The Green Room School Kingsley and Elysian School Liss who have been gaining hands-on work experience at Hogmoor Inclosure in Whitehill & Bordon, Hampshire. Both these settings support children who are unable to access mainstream education.
Over the last school year the students worked alongside countryside rangers to improve habitats by clearing overgrown gorse, removing invasive saplings, building dead hedges, and learning traditional woodland management techniques including coppicing and pollarding. Along the way, they have developed valuable skills in plant and tree identification, risk assessment, and the safe use of a range of conservation tools.
The transformation of both the site for conservation and the students in terms of confidence and social interaction has been remarkable, with the students seeing first-hand how their hard work has opened up the landscape and enhanced the area for both wildlife and visitors.
Two of the Elysian students are aspiring to careers in tree surgery, and their enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment have impressed everyone involved. Pupils from The Green Room enthusiastically requested to return from September 2026.
Prior to the project starting it was registered with The John Muir Award Scheme participating in their Wild Places Guardian Award Scheme and all of the pupils who met the award criteria were presented with their certificates on the last session, much to their surprise.
Deadwater Valley Trust were also nominated by Elysian school as a finalist for the Partnership That Makes a Difference award in recognition of the valuable support provided to students.
A huge thank you to Julie Reid, the team at Deadwater Valley Trust, The Green Room Kingsley and Elysian School for supporting this inspiring partnership. We look forward to working with more students in the future