John Fielding School need your votes please!
John Fielding School is bidding to bag a cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.
Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £4,000, up to £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.
Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.
John Fielding School is one of the groups on the shortlist. Their project:
‘Boosting pupil wellbeing through outdoor learning’
John Fielding Special School strive to provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum designed to meet the unique needs of all of their pupils. Pupils ages range between 2 -19 Years old and all have severe learning difficulties, some also have an autistic spectrum disorder, epilepsy, a physical disability, sensory impairment, medical needs and/or a communication difficulty.
The staff work hard to develop the skills of our young people so that they are prepared for life beyond school. And this is where the “Boosting pupil’s wellbeing” idea came from.
The best way to get the most out of the classroom is to leave it and take learning outside. Outdoor learning can make for happier, healthier, well-rounded students, particularly for those with special educational needs.
John Fielding School has an area on school grounds that has been utilised as best it can as a horticulture area for pupils. This gives the children time to play and explore in the soil, incorporating play and gross motor skills. It also reduces muscle tension and builds endurance and hand dexterity. They have also found it helps lessen negative feelings, anxieties, aggressive tendencies, and helps to reduce tactile defensiveness.
The dream is to expand on the current, basic horticultural area in order to create a fully inclusive and working outdoor environment. They would like to install a wheelchair friendly pathway accessing each work station, 3 composting beds, 5 raised planting beds, an outdoor workspace, and the planting of sensory flowers throughout the area.
Richard Gamman, Head of School, said:
“We are very lucky to have an area on the school site that we can use for outdoor learning. We have created the current facilities as best we can, but now need a funding injection to make the area fully inclusive so that our wheelchairs can access the work stations and planting beds. If you are shopping in Tesco please support John Fielding School with your tokens, thank you so much”.
Voting is open in all Tesco stores throughout January and February. Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop.
Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £40 million to 9,700 projects up and down the UK. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.
Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to open the voting for January and February. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”
Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:
“We’ve been thrilled to see the diversity of projects that have applied for funding, ranging from outdoor classrooms, sports facilities, community gardens, play areas and everything in between.
“We’re looking forward to learning the results of the customer vote and then supporting each group to bring their project to life.”
