Last chance to win a £7,500 makeover (From The Oxford Times)

Last chance to win a £7,500 makeover

7:00am Wednesday 20th June 2012 in Oxfordshire By Damian Fantato, covering Summertown, Jericho and North Oxford. Call me on 01865 425429

St Nicholas Primary School in Old Marston is looking to create a sensory garden. Johanna McNulty, left, and Carol Kelsey, right, with children holding up the plans. Aisha Aziz is pictured at the front. Picture: OX52564 Antony Moore

PRIMARY schools looking for a cash boost to revamp their building only have two days to get their application in.

The Schools SOS competition run by the Oxford Mail and Abingdon-based construction company Leadbitter offers primary schools across Oxfordshire the chance to win a £7,500 grant towards improvements to their building.

Two of the schools which have entered are St Nicholas Primary School in Marston and Willowcroft Community School in Didcot.

Willowcroft is looking for money to create an outdoor classroom with a cooking area, a treehouse and a grass amphitheatre.

The school hopes the area will help its pupils develop confidence and social skills.

St Nicholas Primary School is hoping to invest the cash in a sensory garden for its pupils.

One of the school’s teachers, Johanna McNulty, said: “We have got an autistic resource base and children with hearing difficulties but also children with no difficulties.

“This garden will give the children a chance to develop investigation skills and feel safe.”

The garden, which has been designed by the children, will have a slide and a planting area.

Entries must be sent to Oxford Mail promotions manager Jo Coady via jo.coady@nqo.com by Friday.

They must explain in at least 300 words the project, its benefits and how it would be sustainable.

Drawings, photographs and pupil, staff and parent statements can be used to back up the application.

Once all the entries are in, a panel of judges from the Oxford Mail and Leadbitter will pick a shortlist.

Then it is over to the schools and their supporters to collect as many tokens as possible, printed in the paper alongside profiles of the projects. Tokens will be weighted mathematically to ensure small primaries can compete equally alongside larger schools.

The work will be carried out by Leadbitter over the summer holidays.