10:00am Monday 26th July 2010
By Fran Bardsley
PUPILS and staff at an Abingdon school are celebrating after scooping the Oxford Mail’s Leadbitter Olympic-themed Save Our School competition.
Kingfisher School, which cares for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties, was told on the last day of school they had come out top in the contest and would be getting a £7,500 makeover.
Parents and the community got behind the school – which has just 73 pupils – to collect 13,760 tokens – equating to more than 188 per pupil.
The school made it on to our shortlist after impressing judges from Abingdon building firm Leadbitter and the Oxford Mail with plans to overhaul its sensory garden.
Then it was down to the school to spread the word about their proposal.
Teaching assistant Michelle Messenger said: “Letters went home to all the parents and they got in touch with their friends.
“We went into the community and put posters up, went into coffee shops and did everything we could think of.
“A lot of our tokens came from people living in Abingdon coming and popping them through the door, and even other schools in the town have been involved in collecting them for us.”
The school’s sensory garden was originally built 15 years ago and was badly vandalised a few years later.
Although staff have tried to keep it up as an area which really stimulates the youngsters, there has not been funding or expertise to carry out a proper overhaul.
Ms Messenger said: “It means a huge amount to us because we have a lot of children who are stuck in wheelchairs and cannot access the playing equipment we have on the field.
“This is something that all of them can enjoy.”
Interim headteacher Christina Niner said the money would be extremely significant for the school.
She said: “This will make a fantastic improvement not only to the sensory garden but to the opportunities offered to our pupils.”
Different parts of the garden will represent different countries, to link to the Olympic theme of the contest, and it will be used both to stimulate the children physically and to encourage geographical and cultural awareness.
In all, more than 53,000 vouchers were collected by the five shortlisted schools, New Marston in Oxford, Launton, Wheatley, and Edith Moorhouse School in Carterton, along with winners Kingfisher.
Leadbitter regional construction director Colin Chiles said: “My guys were saying that if any school really deserves it, it’s Kingfisher, because they really do need some fairly straightforward work doing which will really improve the facilities.”
It is planned for work to be completed when children return in September.
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