EXCITED children at Bilton C of E Junior School (BJS) have been donating their pocket money and raising funds to build a futuristic ‘Solardome Sanctuary’ in their playground.
Head teacher Alexandra Norton came up with the idea to build a safe wellbeing space in the school grounds.
Pupils have responded by raising hundreds towards the project, and the school recently welcomed staff from Coventry based firm WindowsPlus who donated a cheque for £500.
Mrs Norton said she was overwhelmed by the response.
She said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to those who have been supportive of the project so far. In addition to the great contribution from WindowsPlus, we have received gifts of pocket money from pupils, contributions to non-uniform days, and over £900 from the Class of 2019 Year 6 pupils.”
She said the Solardome Sanctuary will be a space where the children will feel safe and nurtured.
“We have an important role to play in enabling our children to be resilient and to support good mental health and wellbeing,” she said.
“We also envisage the Solardome Sanctuary will be made available to elderly residents in the area, as well as community groups who will all benefit from this specific, dedicated space.”
Pam Bates, the school’s communications and media officer who is helping to drive fundraising, said: “This is an amazing project to be part of. This innovative space will encourage the emotional growth of the pupils at the school.
“It will be a unique and dedicated wellbeing space for them to develop essential life skills.”
The pupils are looking forward to the new addition to their playground.
Charlie O said: “It will be lovely to have the Solardome as it means we can have a special, quiet space where we can relax and be calm.”
Emme W added: “The Solardome will be somewhere where we can take books to read and be peaceful,” while Harrison F said: “We will be able to do things like collecting objects from nature and then bring them inside the Solardome to look at, but because we can look out on to the playground it will feel like we are still outside.”
All of the children said a big thank you to Gary and Lorraine from WindowsPlus for their donation.
The school will hold a grand opening once the Solardome Sanctuary has been completed.
