FROM a walk-in sandpit to a new allotment, a wildlife hide to spiritual gardens, one amazing project will be built at a lucky Oxfordshire primary school later this year.

The Oxford Mail has again teamed up with Abingdon construction firm Leadbitter to launch the third annual School Build SOS competition, which lets you decide which school should win £7,500 of free building work.

Judges have sifted through the applications, and chosen nine inspirational projects as finalists, many of them designed by pupils.

Now it is over to you.

We will be publishing School Build SOS vouchers in every edition of the Oxford Mail until Saturday, July 9. The first is on the opposite page.

You will have the chance to send the tokens on to the school that you think most deserves to win.

At the end of the competition, the vouchers will be counted and divided by the number of pupils at the school, giving all of them an equal chance to win, whatever their size.

The winner will be announced in the Oxford Mail on Friday, July 15.

Then a Leadbitter construction team will move in and make the children’s dreams a reality.

Last year, Kingfisher School in Abingdon, which teaches youngsters with severe learning difficulties, won and was able to create a new outdoor covered area for pupils to sit and play, and improve its sensory garden.

And in 2009, a new bird hide was built at the North Kidlington Primary School’s wild garden, after the school collected more than 19,300 vouchers.

Oxford Mail deputy editor Sara Taylor said: “It is a privilege to be able to help one school get the project of its dreams.

“We have seen some absolutely fantastic plans sent in this year, and it would be impossible to choose which one of our finalists most deserves the building work.

“That is why we have left it to Oxford Mail readers to decide which dream will come true.”

The nine schools up for the prize are: St Swithun's, Kennington; Beckley Primary; Queen's Dyke, Witney; Carswell Primary, Abingdon; St John Fisher Primary, Littlemore; St Christopher's Primary, Cowley; West Witney Primary; Our Lady's Junior School, Abingdon; and St Andrew's Primary, Chinnor.

Pupils at St Swithun’s, Kennington, have complained about the state of the toilets for years, but the school has not had the money to rebuild them.

With any improvements at least three years away, winning the contest would allow the school to tackle the toilets much sooner.

School manager Claire Serle said: “We’re doing what we can to maintain them, but this competition is an amazing opportunity to bring the project to rebuild them forwards.”

At Beckley Primary, pupils already love learning in the school’s outdoor area, and children were involved from the start in discussions about how to improve it.

Their priority was clear: a new large, walk-in sandpit, covered by an awning, which could be used for lessons and at playtime, complete with logs as seats.

Head Claire Bishop said: “As a small school, this would be huge. The Government has cut our capital budget by 80 per cent, but the children are desperate to have this.”

Queen's Dyke in Witney already has a wild area, but wants an observation hide and a pond for science and environmental work. It would be looked after by the school’s environmental club, and allow pupils to watch nesting birds.

Headteacher Carol Camping said: Our after-school environmental club has become so popular that we now have environmental afternoons in school times.

“The school council asked children what they would like, and a wildlife hide was the most popular choice.”

Using volunteers, and helped by soldiers based at nearby Dalton Barracks, Carswell Primary school, Abingdon, has already begun to develop a a sensory garden. The school now wants to create an outdoor classroom with designs including a canopy, wigwams and a sandpit.

Teacher Katie David said: “Being outdoors can have huge positive effects on a child’s self-esteem and confidence and be liberating and dynamic.”

St John Fisher Primary, Littlemore, already works with charity Roots Allotment, which helps pupils grow their own vegetables and look after their plots. Now volunteers are helping the children to design their own on-site allotment, complete with raised beds, a wooden pagoda and a polytunnel, to allow all-year-round production of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Headteacher Jude Bennett said: “We want to utilise the fantastic outdoor space we have at St John Fisher, taking children out of the classroom, particularly for those that do not have these experiences at home.”

Teachers and pupils at St Christopher’s have spent weeks coming up with designs for a new outdoor classroom that fits in with every aspect of the curriculum. Their final plans include a storytellers’ garden, an enchanted wood, a willow tunnel and fairy bridge, a puppet theatre, maths diagrams, a human sundial and a model of the solar system.

Headteacher Alison Holden: “We have had to work so hard for the past two years on raising the children’s results, and we’re getting that so right now. This would be a huge boost for everyone in the school community. It’s really exciting.”

West Witney Primary wants to create a sensory garden to be used as an outdoor classroom from a wild area of under-used playground. Members of the school’s eco-club would maintain it, and it could be used by the neighbouring children’s centre, and for a support group for disabled children which uses the centre once a week.

Headteacher Judith Tinsley said: “It’s very exciting, and fantastic to think the school grounds could become an additional classroom and bring our younger children into the main body of the school.”

Our Lady's Junior School, Abingdon's eco-council wants to create a wildlife garden in a piece of overgrown and unused land in the grounds. Pupils could use the area for the studies of animals, soils, habitats and plant life, while the school’s gardening club could grow vegetables, to be dished up by the cookery club.

Teacher Jane McNeight said: “The pupils are so enthusiastic about this. What started as a small idea has grown right the way through the school and everybody has come together.

With a rebuilding plan on hold, St Andrew's Primary School, Chinnor, wants to create a multi-sensory spiritual garden where children can relax, reflect and observe nature. Including a pond, raised beds and seating, it has been designed for use in lessons, and to appeal to children at the school’s autistic resource base.

Headteacher Wendy Heritage said: “It would mean everything to us. We would have a quiet place for reflection, as part of our commitment to both the spiritual life of the school and our commitment to the community."