School bags £12,000 to help create woodland classroom

Bersted Green Primary School has bagged £12,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.
Five-year-old Liam Hathaway, left, and Davey Trott, four, putting their tokens in the Bersted Green Primary School box at Tesco in Bognor RegisFive-year-old Liam Hathaway, left, and Davey Trott, four, putting their tokens in the Bersted Green Primary School box at Tesco in Bognor Regis
Five-year-old Liam Hathaway, left, and Davey Trott, four, putting their tokens in the Bersted Green Primary School box at Tesco in Bognor Regis

The school was one of three projects selected for the first round of funding, with grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 raised through the 5p carrier bag levy.

Customers voted in store and the school was announced as the winner of the highest donation.

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The money will be used to build a woodland classroom in the wooded area at the edge of the school field.

Staff would also like to create a sensory area, a place for the children to read, reflect and use their senses.

Head teacher Katie Jarvis said: “We are so grateful to the local community along with Tesco for voting for our project.

“The children will be able to learn order, sequence and collaboration. They will be able to describe, think and predict.

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“Their experiences will be first hand, real and meaningful and in turn this will impact on basic skills, fun and well-being.”

The woodland classroom will be a safe, defined area where children, under supervision, will learn about the outdoors.

Activities will include making and flying kites; designing and constructing dens; using tools safely to lift, pull, push and manipulate; lighting fires; learning about birds, flight, clouds and weather; weaving; making bug hotels; discovering creepy crawlies and experiencing campfires.

Caroline Silke, head of community at Tesco, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success. We have been overwhelmed by the response of our customers and the feedback has been brilliant.

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“We can’t wait to see the money being put to use bringing these projects to life. Nominations for the next round of the initiative will open in April and we look forward to helping a further round of groups and projects bag their share of the bag charge fund.”

Voting for the first round, run in conjuntion with Groundwork, ran in store from February 27 to March 6.

Groundwork chief executive Graham Duxbury said: “We have been delighted to be involved in the Bags of Help project. It has been wonderful to follow the projects through the application process to the final announcement.

“This is money which will go directly back into the communities up and down the country creating places to meet people, be active, play or simply relax.

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“This initiative is really putting something back into the local environment, transforming green spaces and helping the community at a grass-roots level.”

Nominations and applications for the next round of Bags of Help funding will open on April 18.

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