Staff of at Portsmouth's Manor Infant School take on marathon to raise money following arson attack

A large portion of the Early Years playground was destroyed by a ferocious fire after Manor Infant and Nursery School was subject to a devastating arson attack on April 1. The fire destroyed ‘the lodge’ which was home to the role play and craft area, the literacy and maths shed and the damaged the majority of the garage storage area. A huge amount of resources were lost that day.

The estimated cost of damage caused was £20,000. The staff and children were shocked and saddened at the loss of so many teaching resources.

Headteacher, Helen Castle said: "The whole school was shocked by the arson attack on the outdoor area where the children spend so much of their time learning.

"However the response from the local community was fantastic and I feel very lucky to have such committed early years staff who gave up a Saturday to complete the sponsored marathon walk, raising funds to replace so many of the resources that were destroyed."

Michelle Thornton, preschool room lead, organised a sponsored marathon walk. On May 4 four staff members walked the whole marathon distance, two in fancy dress as Scooby Doo and an inflatable dinosaur. Many more staff joined in with the walk throughout the day, all walking different distances. The special guest of the day was Dennis, a former pupil and an electric wheelchair user. Dennis, walked a full mile in a walker and then continued in his electric wheelchair, to encourage the walkers to complete their mission.

Dennis said: "I wanted to help my old school who had also taught me always do my best."

Michelle said: "I couldn’t be more proud of our team for giving up their time to raise money. I want to say a massive thank you to all those who walked.

"We are so grateful to all our sponsors and we are looking forward to spending the money on buying new resourcesfor our outside area."

Staff raised just over £1,500 and would like to thank everybody for their sponsorship and donations of toys.