Deal schools have come up trumps again with Sholden Primary School coming second in the KM’s competition to win new playground equipment.

The village school narrowly missed out on winning a £12,000 play fort with safe playground, but staff and youngsters are delighted to receive a £2,000 activity panel to keep the youngsters occupied.

Jo Dawson, a parent who works at the breakfast and after school club, said: “We were so thrilled to be told on Monday.”

They worked so hard collecting the vouchers

Mrs Dawson was involved in co-ordinating the school’s collections of Mercury tokens which enabled them to become runners up in the competition.

The children were told in an assembly where they were overjoyed their efforts had been rewarded.

“They worked so hard collecting the vouchers,” added Mrs Dawson.

Justine Brown, head teacher, said: “We are so thrilled and proud of our little community.

“They were so organised, it was carried out like a military campaign.”

It was not just a school effort – the whole village, including
residents, the church and Scouts and Brownies rolled up their sleeves, cutting out Mercury coupons.

Canterbury based Specialist Sports Products will begin construction soon, and the new activity area will be used by all 103 pupils who attend the church school.

Five primary schools from our district were in the running for the three prizes. These were Sholden, Warden House, Northbourne, and Charlton and Whitfield Aspen.

Last year, Kingsdown Pre-School, based at the village hall, was the winner, and this year Sholden took the second place proving you have to be in it to win it – and local people and organisations really do come up trumps in our competitions.

The first prize, a £12,000 play fort and safe play surface was won by the Fairview Fledgelings pre-school in Rainham.

They collected the most tokens on a pro-rata basis, taking into account the number of children who attend the school.