Cargill school students get new shade covering
A shadow has been cast over Tokoroa’s Cargill Open Plan School.
But it’s not the bad kind, it’s a brand new covering over one of the primary school’s concreted outdoor play areas.
Parent Teachers Association (PTA) committee member Charissa Banfield said it’s already being put to good use.
‘‘This is the main area where the kids come out to have their lunch and they can now even come out here on a drizzly day,’’ she said.
‘‘We used to have to set up little gazebos but now this will permanently stay up which looks a lot better.’’
Banfield said the shade cloth was partly funded by a South Waikato District Council Community Development Grant of $13,000 and the rest through the Board of Trustees.
‘‘The PTA wanted to go ahead with it so we approached the board about it and they said if we could get half the funding then they would come to the party with the rest, ‘‘she said.
‘‘We did several different fundraising events for it such as discos, a garage sale where everyone from the Cargill community brought in items and we raised just over $1000, a cake stall, and firewood raffles where we had wood donated.’’
‘‘We have school lunch days too to help fundraise for projects like this and when we do around 90 per cent of the kids will buy toasties, pizzas or whatever we are doing because parents know the money goes back to things specifically for the kids.’’
‘‘People really got behind this and that’s one of the things I love about Cargill. There are not many PTAS left anymore but when we do have something like this the school does really support us,’’ she said.
Principal Rhonda Rayner said teachers were just as excited as the kids were with the new covering.
‘‘The teachers are excited about what it will mean in the summer because they can actually be outside under shade,’’ she said.
Banfield thanked those who contributed.
‘‘Thanks to the Cargill parents for supporting the school through donations, the Board of Trustees for going halves with us and supporting us with the project and also to the council for its contribution,’’ she said.
She said the school also recently fundraised for some new sports uniforms.