At this time of year, the staff and PTA of John Fielding Special School would usually be preparing for their summer fayre. However, with Government restrictions in place around the coronavirus, the school have been forced to think creatively…
Instead, they are challenging the school community to set themselves a physical challenge every day of the week during half-term to raise funds for specialist equipment and resources at the new site they are due to move to in September 2021.
Richard Gamman, Headteacher of John Fielding School, will be aiming to run 5 miles each day before 6am, whilst one of the organisers and a member of staff at the school, Lucy Allen, has already committed herself to 3 miles each day.
Lucy and co-organiser, Demi Weir, explained: “Although we will soon have a nice, shiny, new building, we will still need to fill it with exciting equipment and resources to support the development of our pupils.
A lot of the specialist equipment can be very expensive, and therefore we rely on the support of our friends in the community in order to make our dreams and aspirations become a reality.
Many of our pupils live with physical challenges each day but astound us with their determination to overcome their personal barriers. We are joining as a community to have a go at pushing our boundaries and setting a challenge for ourselves.”
The school are encouraging as many people to get involved as possible, from pupils to parents and staff to friends of the school.
If you are taking part, please send your pictures and videos to the school Facebook page and don’t forget that you can sponsor the school team here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/virtual-half-term-challenge
