Building for Better Learning Project

What is the BBL Project?

The project will benefit present and future pupils of our school and will entail the development of the following key areas: 

• Redevelopment of our new back grass play area
  (Uneven, health & safety concerns and not in use during spring-winter months) 

• Removal of grass and levelling of the ground

• Prepping the area to be fitted with Astro surface

Our vision is to Install the following:

• An outdoor stage   

• Amphitheatre seating area    

• Weather station & Sundial

• Sensory garden       

• Pathway of dreams               

• Bug hotel & Butterfly garden

• Outdoor seating and lighting                                     

• Play equipment  

• Fencing           

• Planting of hedging and flowers
  
  

General Overview of the Project?

Our school will be launching our "Building for Better Learning" project on the 20th April 2023. Our back grass play area needs to be redeveloped and part of the current Astro Turf area behind our school is in a state of disrepair. This area needs to be replaced and we also plan to extend the surface further towards the end of the playing field.  The following are key factors for doing this project:

• Current space is uneven, is a health and safety concern, can be waterlogged,
  only in use during spring-summer months
  
  

• Lack of space on yard for pupils to develop their physical, social and emotional skills. Also creates extra supervision for staffing on split breaks
  
  

• New development will allow the pupils to use this area all year round
  
  

• The project will encourage pupils and teachers to conduct their classwork outdoors and engage with nature while developing our strong ethos of education, sports, culture and arts
  
  

• The clean Astro area will prevent pupils from going home with muddy/dirty clothes
  
  

• Sensory garden and pathways of dreams will cater for pupils wellbeing
  
  

The project is very much community driven whereby all the stakeholders of our school are seeking to bring more learning outdoors. When complete, we envisage this area to be a one-of-a-kind asset to the school and will allow the school to continue and further enhance it's prestigious reputation in the areas of education, music and the arts. 

All the pupils and staff are so excited about this project and will reap the benefits when complete. The new area will also provide a lasting legacy to the present and future students, teachers and parents of the school. The project will also have a strong connection to the late Ms. Ashling Murphy who inspired so many children with her love of education, music, sports and arts during her time in our school. 

Pupil Input and Involvement

As a school, we value the pupils voice and opinions. A competition was held for the pupils from 1st class up, where their visual interpretation of the project was welcomed. We had a phenomenal response to this competition and all the entries are displayed in our school.  The overall winning picture is on the fundraising raffle tickets and posters. The winning picture above gives a fantastic child friendly vision on what this project could really look like. The pupils of our school will have a leading role in this project and their voices and opinions will be so valuable and listened to. 

Fundraising

What is the predicted cost of the overall project?
(Estimated cost of €100,000)

• It is hoped that the project will be partially funded by
  the Department of Education
  
  

• The fundraising raffle and business donations will hopefully raise €35,000
  
  

What is the predicted timeline for the project completion?
(2 years approximately) 

The predicted timeline will be as follows:

• Stage 1: Fundraising, preparation and planning
  
  

• Stage 2: Groundwork preparation
  
  

• Stage 3: Installation of Astro surface and underground equipment
  
  

• Stage 4: Purchasing and installation of other equipment and materials such as stage, gardening, hedging, play equipment etc
  
  

• Stage 5: Completion of all other elements of the project 

We are very lucky to have an excellent fundraising committee set up to help fundraise for this project. As you can imagine, financial aid is needed to implement the hopes and visions of the project for the benefit of the pupils in our school.

Raffle & Launch Date

The fundraising committee will be holding the official raffle and launching the project on Thursday 20th April 2023 in Durrow School. 

• 1st prize of €5000
  
  

• Many other spot prizes on the night 

How do you purchase a raffle ticket? 
(Tickets €100 each and are limited)

Raffle tickets are available to purchase from Durrow N.S or any committee member. Payments can be accepted in the form of Debapay (Link provided by school), cash or cheque. For further information please feel free to contact the school or any committee member at any time. 

Every entrant will have a very good chance of walking away
                                  with the top prize of €5000. 

As a school with a strong ethos and culture, the launch night will provide a celebration of our Irish culture and also embrace the many cultures that make our school such an inclusive place for students to learn and develop emotionally and socially. We take pride in our positive culture and uniqueness. 

At the launch night, there will be:

- Presentations on what this project means from the pupils,
  the staff and the wider community. 

- Entertainment provided from the pupils. 

- Refreshments 

- A digital interpretation of what the final project will look like. 

Donations

We would like to thank all the businesses for their generous donations to our fundraising event to date. If you have a business or know a business who would like to support this great fundraiser, please contact the school or any member of the committee at any time. All sponsors will be listed on our sponsors list and we would be very grateful for all contributions, big or small, as this will help up us get closer to our objective of completing the project.

As our school is a vibrant part of the Durrow community, we would encourage you to spread the word of our fundraising raffle to extended family, neighbours, friends or to anyone who might like to support this fundraiser. The support of the community will help our school fulfil the pupils vision for completing this project. 

Many thanks for your ongoing support to date.