If you were following our School News earlier this year, either through The Westcliff Diary, or via the School’s News Page, you will know that in this year’s English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) National Final in Stoke-on-Trent our Junior and Intermediate Boys Teams gave spectacular performances. Our Intermediate Boys Team gained a podium place, coming an impressive Third in the country, and no less impressive were the performances of our Junior Boys Team, who exceeded their own target for the day, placing them fourth nationally.

Our athletes continue to train hard in order to maintain their position among some of the best Junior and Intermediate athletes in England. However, the School’s athletics facilities and equipment are now failing badly and the condition of the tartan is so poor that it must now be replaced if we are to provide the facilities we need.

To be clear, our tartan facility is not merely something which is ‘nice to have’ for our top athletes; this effectively serves as an outdoor classroom for all our pupils. Aside from providing a surface for long-jump and other athletics training, for example hurdles training, this is a surface on which skills are taught to all pupils when engaging in physical education lessons, and it is important for their general fitness, wellbeing and confidence.

The price quoted for replacement of the tartan facility and associated equipment is an eyewatering £50,000. You are likely to be aware that funding for schools has been in serious decline for over 10 years, with many schools now in a budget deficit position. We continue to manage our budgets carefully, but without your help shall not be able to replace the tartan and other facilities, as there are so many competing pressures on our budget.

Our sincere thanks to Old Westcliffian Max Cole, and his father Anthony, Co-Chair of Governors at WHSB, who took on the ambitious challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Northeastern Tanzania in September this year and, in doing so, raised much needed funding for our new tartan facility. We are delighted with their efforts on behalf of the School; this was a most difficult challenge and, in true Westcliffian spirt, through their commitment and perseverance they reached the summit.

We still have a long way to go in order to raise the necessary funds for the new tartan facility, and would be most grateful for the support of Old Westcliffians and our School Community through donations and sponsorship.