There were gasps and cheers from school kids as we announced our Pounds for Primaries winners – each receiving a share of £10,000.
Thousands of tokens were sent into the Evening Telegraph from schools in our distribution area, in the hope of winning some cash.
Participating schools were arranged into three categories depending on school roll and those with the most tokens in each category became winners.
Scooping the top prize of £2,000 was Ss Peter and Paul Primary School, in Coldside, closely followed by Murroes Primary School, in Angus, winning £1,500.
A further £1,000 was won by Glebelands Primary School, in Stobswell, and smaller amounts were secured by other schools in Dundee and surrounding areas.
Pounds for Primaries winners
Kids were delighted with the good news, delivered to them in person by Evening Telegraph editor Dave Lord.
At Murroes Primary School, Darcy McIntosh and Gracie Simpson, both P7, and Molly Sangster, P3, were then sent around the classes with the cheque.
Gracie, 11, said: “People were cheering when we told them and the teachers were surprised – no one knew we’d won. They were shocked because it’s so much money.”
The excitement was quickly followed with suggestions from the pupils of how the money could be spent.
Darcy, also 11, said: “Most people are saying they want a new fort [outdoor play equipment]. Some of the boys said nets for the football goals.”
Science equipment was also suggested and head teacher Caroline MacDiarmid confirmed that is likely to be what the money is used for, along with toys for younger year groups.
She said: “It will make a huge difference to us. In a school this small the budget gets swallowed up with pencils, paper and jotters.
“It’s a luxury to have money to spend on toys and science equipment – that needs to be replenished every year, batteries need replaced and bulbs break.
“Some of the kids were saying they wanted a new fort but that will cost £20-30,000 so we’ll need to do a larger fundraising project for that.”
Schoolchildren at Glebelands Primary School were also keen to spend their funds on outdoor play equipment.
P2b pupil, Molly Davidson, six, brought 123 tokens into the school from her gran. She said: “I’m delighted. I think we should get monkey bars.”
And her classmate, Max Adamson, also six, agreed. His family collected around 15o tokens and Max says they are all “happy” with the win.
“My granddad was jigging when my granny told him,” he added.
P5b pupil, Leo Goodchild, nine, said: “We could get more toys and outdoor stuff for the playground, like wooden equipment to climb on.”
Art supplies, video games and new books were also suggested by the children, but head teacher Rob Gill said the money will go into a pot towards a new outdoor play structure.
He said: “We’ve lost quite a lot of our outdoor playground equipment, it was old and had to be removed for safety reasons.
“The parent council want to replace it because it was popular with the children but it’s very expensive.
“They signed us up for Pounds for Primaries with the intention of starting a pot to raise funds for this equipment and it’s a very welcome first step onto the ladder.”
Those at Ss Peter and Paul Primary School were over the moon to land the top spot through their token collecting efforts.
Deputy head teacher Laura McKenzie said: “When we heard about the result we were overwhelmed.
“This fantastic result was due to a combined effort by our school family and parish community who have all contributed to the collection. We would like to thank everyone who has helped to support us.
“The money will be used to develop our playground and outdoor equipment. Over the next year we are hoping to make positive changes to our playground and facilities in order to give our young people better outdoor learning experiences possible.
“The money will make a huge difference to our pupils and the community in lifting spirits, making the playground a more welcoming and engaging space where they can play and interact with friends.”
