Inching closer to pre-prepared muddy holes as a staff member gave instructions, carefully cradled small shrubs in hand, the group of grade 3 students needed no encouragement to get to work.
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A loud cheer erupted when they were given the final go-ahead: get planting.
Friday marked National Tree Day, and the Riverside Primary School cohort were taking part in the annual community planting activity carried out across the country.
Swapping school books for spades, marking the day was only part of the activity too, with the students' work also fitting in to a broader program to establish a new nature space in the school, balancing out artificial surfaces around the school grounds.
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"It's just looking at those areas that we can keep natural and how we can enhance those," performing arts teacher Sarah van Beek said between dishing out more dirt for packing the now plant-filled holes.
"All the grade 3 groups have been looking at how we can enhance our natural space and looking at the plants and animals that we can maintain and encourage back to our environment - and keeping it all native."
As the grade 3 students kept busy, a small group of grade 5 peers dashed around documenting the action.
"They gather data around the whole school around waste and how much we produce and how we can do that responsibly," Ms van Beek added. "They help out with any sustainable initiatives we have going on."
"So the [grade 5] Waste Warrior group have been looking at that but the grade 3s ... [also took the question of enhancement] and ran with it."
As one student brushed by with flecks of mud on their face, school principal Jane Bovill said the excitement about the morning activity was plain to see.
"[Launceston] Toyota have been really good because they have sponsored this over a number of years," she added. "Who knew tree planting could be so fun."
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