Skip to main content
Woodland Trust Woodland Trust home page Become a member

The Man Who Planted Trees - KS2 assembly

Empower your pupils with this uplifting story about one person’s mission to make a lasting difference.

The story is illustrated by striking visuals called woodcuts.

Credit: Michael McCurdy

Imagine planting an entire forest with your own hands! That’s exactly what the humble hero does in this thought-provoking tale.

The Man Who Planted Trees is written by Jean Giono. It tells the story of a shepherd who plants thousands of acorns near his home. His actions breathe new life into the landscape and bring the community back together.

You can use this assembly to support your school’s tree-planting activities. It’s also a great way to show pupils how their actions can have a real impact.

By delivering this assembly you can earn two points on the Green Tree Schools Award.

Assembly length

20-minute presentation
10 minutes for questions

Tell the story

We've created a PowerPoint presentation so it's easy to share the story with your whole school. You’ll find a script you can personalise in the teacher notes along with questions to encourage discussions.

Credit: Michael McCurdy

Striking woodcuts

The story is illustrated with woodcuts engraved by artist Michael McCurdy. A woodcut is a type of print. It's made by carving pictures or patterns onto a piece of wood, covering it in ink and pressing it onto paper or cloth.

How to claim your points

Your school can earn two points on our award when you deliver an assembly – either The Man Who Planted Trees or our KS3 assembly The Power of Trees. Points will only be awarded for one assembly.

To claim your points, tell us about your assembly. Let us know when you delivered it, how your pupils responded to the story and if you linked it to tree planting. You can send in photos and videos too.

Email learning@woodlandtrust.org.uk with the subject line 'KS2 assembly'.

We’ll add two points to your account after we receive your evidence (usually within two weeks).

How we use quotes and photos

We like to use comments and photos from schools to inspire other teachers and young people about outdoor learning. With your permission, they could appear on our award materials, website, press releases and social media.

You can find out more about how we use and look after your personal information in our privacy policy.

Permissions

If you're happy for us to share your quotes and photos as outlined above, please include the following permission statements in your email:

  • We confirm we have permission from the photographer to submit these photos and use them for the purposes stated.
  • We confirm we have permission from pupils' parents/guardians to share their photos, comments and names and use them for the purposes stated.

If you'd rather we didn't share them, please include the following statement in your email:

  • We would prefer that our photos and comments are not used for the purposes stated.

More ideas for schools