Friends go wild to support outdoor learning

Tracy Vise and friends Joanna and Steve Marrett, Ellie Housley, Kara Banaszak and Emma Mercer at the World War Run. Picture: Pukka RacesTracy Vise and friends Joanna and Steve Marrett, Ellie Housley, Kara Banaszak and Emma Mercer at the World War Run. Picture: Pukka Races
Tracy Vise and friends Joanna and Steve Marrett, Ellie Housley, Kara Banaszak and Emma Mercer at the World War Run. Picture: Pukka Races
Teaching assistant Tracy Vise has a passion for outdoors learning, so she has literally thrown herself into fundraising for her school.

A bingo evening she and friend Joanna Marrett organised raised £1,004 for Herons Dale Primary School, where pupils have a wide range of additional needs.

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Then, Tracy and friends Joanna and Steve Marrett, Ellie Housley, Kara Banaszak and Emma Mercer completed a five-mile mud run last weekend and have so far raised a further £900.

Tracy said: “I am passionate about children learning in the great outdoors, learning in a hands-on way and learning how to care for the world around us, and this is something the school are keen to further develop.

“All monies donated will go towards getting a wildlife pond installed with some sensory planting around it and a climbing frame with slide for use in the early years class, where I work.”

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Tracy started work in reception in January and has been working with the school, in Hawkins Crescent, Shoreham, to improve outdoor learning.

She said: “The bingo evening was an amazing success, with approximately 65 people attending the event.

“Then a group of six of us took part in an event called World War Run that saw us take on 30 obstacles and plenty of mud.

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“I would like to say a massive thank you to my friends and everyone who supported us and made a donation, either on the bingo evening or for the mud run.

“Herons Dale Primary is the most amazing school. I can see first hand what a difference the school makes to the lives of the children that attend.

“We all know funding is being cut and everyone is having to find creative ways to help raise funds. I think taking part in a five-mile mud run is a very creative way of raising money.”

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Herons Dale Primary has its school summer fayre on Saturday, July 7, from 12pm to 3pm, including face painting, teddy tombola, barbecue, bouncy castle and slide. Donation on entry, small charge to see the reptiles and for train rides.

Friends of Herons Dale Primary School are raising funds for a new people carrier, so staff can take pupils out in the community, and for more playground equipment, to enrich playtimes.

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