Loxwood School wishlist raises £1,000 of vital funds in a month

The school says funding cuts are crippling teachers’ access to the best learning resources for pupils.

“Desperate to make the right teaching tools available for her talented staff, the head teacher and a small group of parents at Loxwood Primary School have taken matters into their own hands by launching an exciting new fundraising platform https://loxwood.ourschoolwishlist.org,” a school spokesman said.

“The website shows items identified by each class teacher as being vital for this academic year and beyond. It also include some items that the whole school will benefit from.”

Donations via the website go directly towards the items chosen, so donors can see exactly where and how their contributions help.

Items on the wishlist range from stationery items costing less than £5, to more substantial items worth hundreds. Teachers can ‘add’ new items to the list as and when required.

Head teacher Polly Kitson said: “Our talented and dedicated team of staff work tirelessly to give our children the best possible learning experiences they can.

“However, the school, like many is very underfunded. So we have been thinking of new ways to help provide much-needed learning resources to maximise the opportunities our children have to grow and develop at Loxwood School. Our committed PTA team is very aware of the situation and together we came up with the idea of a new platform for parents, carers and supporters of Loxwood School to easily donate towards specific items the children really need, right now.”

Within a month of launching a new wishlist website, more than £1,000 has been donated via the website by parents, carers and the local community. The school has already sourced items including books, numerical counters, art supplies and even a webcam.

A party was held to celebrate the website’s launch, with a wishlist cake made by Loxwood mum, Alicia Bridger.

The head teacher said: “It has been a wonderful event to celebrate the launch of our Wishlist. Each teacher has put a great deal of thought into which items their class needs most, for this year and in the future. Their dedication to the children’s learning, and their boundless energy and aptitude for making the most of the resources they have available, means every donation has a direct and positive impact on our children.”

The Wishlist website project has been spearheaded by parents, Lucy Percy and Ali El Moghraby.

“Some of the teachers have got quite emotional about the difference these donations will make to the children’s learning,” said Ali.

“It’s such a shame that it’s necessary, but it’s been worth the effort.”

Lucy Percy added: “We are incredibly lucky to have such generous parents and a very involved local community.

“They already contribute a lot of their time and money via the school PTA, so it’s especially gratifying that they’ve also seen the extra value these learning resources will bring for the school. Several local businesses, most with children in the school, are sponsoring the website, without whom we couldn’t have got it going.”

The schools says special thanks to Knight Frank, James Paul Cars, JM Roofing, Little Harriers Montessori Nursery, Silverback Studios and Bessler Hendrie.

The wishlist can be found at: https://loxwood.ourschoolwishlist.org