THE Headteacher at Sandford School says she cannot thank enough the volunteers from the community, parents, children, grandparents, governors, staff and those who made donations of materials and equipment to make its two-day School Force 2019 event a resounding success.

On Saturday, April 27, up to 100 volunteers painted, weeded, cleared bracken, built fences, planted hedges, grass strimmed and cut, sanded down and painted wooden buildings, built raised beds for gardening and carried out all manner of duties.

The very next day, a similar number of volunteers carried on the good works begun the day before.

Lois Briard described the second annual SchoolForce Weekend as “a fantastic school community event”.

She continued: “Not only has SchoolForce enhanced the outdoor learning provision for the children it’s shown them the real meaning of community and what can be achieved when people work together. 

“To have achieved so much in one weekend is simply phenomenal and a credit to the strength of the Sandford School community.

“We’re incredibly grateful to all the local businesses who have supported us and our whole school community for rallying round to help out.

“Thanks also to the Friends of Sandford School which ran the kitchen for us, keeping everyone fed and watered over the weekend.” 

The works involved the extension of the outdoor classroom, the building of a new pond, re-roofing the outdoor shelter, building of a butterfly garden, lots of fencing, painting, the creation of a decking area and so much more.

Local resident and school governor, Matt Theedom, was project manager for the SchoolForce Weekend and he was thanked by Lois for his hard work on the project.

He thanked all those who helped or donated towards the project and said local businesses had been very supportive.

Matt said that the skills of many tradespeople came in particularly handy for some of the more difficult and challenging tasks.

Lois added that Sandford School was lucky to have fantastic support from its community, support which really helped the children with their learning.