On 1st August a storm led to flash flooding which resulted in 3 of the classrooms being so flooded that they have become unusable and had to be stripped right back to walls and concrete floor. As these are the classrooms for the younger members of the school everything was at a lower height and all toys, books and fabrics etc have all had to be destroyed.

Whilst insurance will cover the main costs such as new carpets, doors, furniture, decorating etc it is inevitable that many of the things that make the environment more welcoming will not be replaced by insurance. Often this is because they are things like rugs, toys, books, instruments etc that have been brought in and lent or donated by staff and friends which are not covered. An example is a £250 rug that has been destroyed that was brought it by one of the teachers.

All paper and fabrics have had to be destroyed and as the school starts to put everything back together and understands what is and isn’t covered by insurance a clearer picture will emerge.

No doubt there will be an appeal for any spare children’s books and toys but the school isn’t able to accept these while the clean up works continue.

A major example of something not covered by our buildings and contents insurance is the early years garden play surface which has also been rendered unusable due to the flooding. We are now in a battle with county to raise some funds, so many, many thousands needs to be found to restore our lovely play area.

We have set up a fundraising page from the PTA to help raise funds for the school to replace resources and bring the school back to the lovely environment we want for our children.

Please help Northchapel school by donating whatever you can through this PTA fundraising page and consider ticking the box for gift aid to maximise the donation given.

Thanks very much in anticipation.