Ideas for donations please

[Osem]

It's a long story but for quite a few years now my family have been making ad-hoc donations to local schools and SEN units. The items we've provided have ranged from classroom equipment to play apparatus and outdoor seating. As most of these places are built to be functional rather than aesthetic, we've also provided ornamental trees and 1000's of daffodil bulbs.

We're now going to make another donation to a special school and are looking for ideas. The school is well equipped and there are all sorts of potential health & safety issues when it comes to providing play equipment so we've decided to concentrate on smaller things which will brighten up the children's outdoor space. We know things like trees and bulbs will be much appreciated but we'd be really grateful for any more imaginative suggestions from forum users.

Many thanks.

[Caff]

Originally Posted by Osem

It's a long story but for quite a few years now my family have been making ad-hoc donations to local schools and SEN units. The items we've provided have ranged from classroom equipment to play apparatus and outdoor seating. As most of these places are built to be functional rather than aesthetic, we've also provided ornamental trees and 1000's of daffodil bulbs.

We're now going to make another donation to a special school and are looking for ideas. The school is well equipped and there are all sorts of potential health & safety issues when it comes to providing play equipment so we've decided to concentrate on smaller things which will brighten up the children's outdoor space. We know things like trees and bulbs will be much appreciated but we'd be really grateful for any more imaginative suggestions from forum users.

Many thanks.

What a generous and thoughtful gesture

Personally I'd approach the school in question and ask for advice/suggestions - and they may well have connections that would enable you to 'get more for your money' as in tax-free and so on.
They will also have expertise in chosing resources for the benefit of the children.

How does the idea of a 'sensory garden' grab you?

[Arthurgray50@blu]

Howabout items such as those boards, where they stick there faces through, and take pictures of, and that normally brings smiles to there faces, especially when the teachers faces are through, and people throw water sponges at, or you could have 'roundas bats' made of plastics, or donate a special trampoline, which has safety sides, my son has special needs, and the school, had much of these, plus rubber tyres, that were painted different colours, for them to jump through.

sensory garden?

e.g.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/education/documents/sensory.pdf

- and kudos to you & yours for wanting to help

[ikthius]

a bouncy castle.......

or a ball pit

---------------- Now playing: Cat Stevens - Wild World via FoxyTunes

[Caff]

Originally Posted by homealone

sensory garden?

e.g.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/education/documents/sensory.pdf

- and kudos to you & yours for wanting to help

"Great minds..."

[Osem]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. The school in question already has a sensory garden and soft play facilities but some of the other simple suggestions could be just what we're looking for.

Although we normally have some sort of dialogue with the schools first we've found that the results of this can be very variable depending often on the personal attitudes of the senior staff and governors. For example - at one point we offered to fund an annual special achievement prize for a local school which would be awarded to a boy and a girl from each year group who'd either risen to particular challenge or simply exceeded expectations. We felt this would complement the awards the school's clique of star performers used to get every year but would give those at the other end of the spectrum a chance - often the disadvantaged kids. Sadly although the Head very much welcomed the idea, the governors decided it wouldn't be appropriate - perhaps they didn't like the idea of some of the other children gaining recognition for their efforts.

Another problem is that schools are often used to paying far more for things than is sometimes necessary since their choice of supplier is usually limited. A long time ago we donated a 4 figure sum to a school which simply spent the entire sum on a single small and very ordinary piece of playground equipment when, with just a little thought and imagination, the money could have gone an awful lot further.

For these (and other) reasons what we now do is draw up some ideas based on what we know about the school and then approach the Head with the specific offer. From my many previous experiences I know that tweaking may be required but when faced with almost a 'fait accompli', the schools seem much easier to deal with.

We'd welcome any more suggestions you have - the simpler the better in some respects. The daffodil bulbs was a simple suggestion somebody came up with a few years ago which has worked wonderfully well especially in infant schools in less salubrious areas which could do with some brightening up. We've found the children love to plant the bulbs and get very excited when they start to grow and flower. Anyway it's sometimes hard for us to see the wood for the trees for suggest away please. Thanks again

[LSainsbury]

Going on from the daffodil bulbs idea....how about some sunflowers?

[Angua]

Outdoor lighting/music/sound system or a canopy/awning to provide an all weather area so they can still go outside in the rain.

Try other special school websites to see what sort of things they have and grab some ideas that way.

[Caff]

What did you decide to do?

[tweetypie/8]

Originally Posted by Osem

It's a long story but for quite a few years now my family have been making ad-hoc donations to local schools and SEN units. The items we've provided have ranged from classroom equipment to play apparatus and outdoor seating. As most of these places are built to be functional rather than aesthetic, we've also provided ornamental trees and 1000's of daffodil bulbs.

We're now going to make another donation to a special school and are looking for ideas. The school is well equipped and there are all sorts of potential health & safety issues when it comes to providing play equipment so we've decided to concentrate on smaller things which will brighten up the children's outdoor space. We know things like trees and bulbs will be much appreciated but we'd be really grateful for any more imaginative suggestions from forum users.

Many thanks.

good on you os for your generosity,the world could do with a few more like you well done.