Enabling important extra-curricular activities
Towie School and Nursery Parent Council work in partnership with Towie Primary School to support the education and welfare of pupils.
The school has a large rural catchment in upper Donside, and currently, there are 54 pupils at the school and 10 at the nursery. The Parent Council carries out fundraising and provides a voice for parents/carers as well as supporting school staff in delivering a range of activities and projects.
A key area where support is required for the school is the provision of transport to and from extra-curricular activities. For a remote, rural school, transport is expensive but very beneficial, providing opportunities for the children to participate in sporting activities, cultural events and social interaction that they may otherwise miss out on. A network of three schools, including Strathdon and Lumsden Primaries, organise joint activities to help the children broaden their experience and get to know more of their peers, but this also relies on transport. Unfortunately, there is very limited public transport in the area.
Since October 2016, the Parent Council has received £9,120 from the Kildrummy Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund for transport costs to support extra-curricular activities. This includes £4,000 awarded in September 2020. The first grant received was for £2,520 with a further £588 spent on travel by the Parent Council. This grant covered the school years 2016/17 and 2017/18 and funded travel to and from swimming lessons in Alford as well as a range of trips including Landmark Adventure Park in Carrbridge; Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore; and for activities such as a day of dance, a problem solving and chess day, and a nursery trip to see Santa.
In the following two-year period an award of £2,600 plus an additional £628 from the Parent Council funded trips to swimming lessons, theatre performances, an inter-school day of dance, an orienteering festival and visits to Alford Heritage Museum and Highland Wildlife Park.
The most recent award, for £4,000, was intended to cover the full costs of transport during 2020/21 and 2021/22 for swimming lessons, joint activities with other small local schools, and school and nursery excursions. However, restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic meant that all the usual trips and activities had to be cancelled. An emphasis on staying local and playing outside led the Parent Council to consider ways of improving the school playground to ensure the children could have the best possible opportunities for outdoor learning on their doorstep.
In the spring of 2021, parent volunteers rallied around to tidy up the playground which had been neglected during the school closure period. They drew up plans to improve the space and made a request to Kildrummy Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund Panel to reallocate some of this year’s grant to pay for items such as a greenhouse. The panel saw sense in this approach and approved the change of use to the funding.
Other plans include creating a quiet seating area and improving paths throughout the playground. Most of the work is being carried out by staff and parent volunteers using donated materials. The hope is that swimming lessons and other activities will resume next year, and any future grant will be used for travel to these and other activities.
The project contributes to Theme 5 in the Kildrummy, Lumsden and Towie Community Action Plan – Supporting Children & Young People.
As part of a small community, there is a limit to the amount of fundraising the Parent Council can do in the community year-on-year, so the funding from Kildrummy Wind Farm makes a huge difference, giving all the children at the school social, cultural and sporting opportunities which would otherwise not be possible. The Parent Council always hires local coach companies to provide the transport services, so local businesses also benefit as the money remains in the community.
Commenting on the work to improve the playground, Carol Davidson, Treasurer of the Parent Council said
“It has been a great community project and brought parents and teachers together as well as improving the playground which will enhance the children’s learning. Without the wind farm fund’s support and money this would not have been possible, and we are very appreciative.”