Portsmouth headteacher gets muddy to raise funds for literacy and mental health
A Portsmouth headteacher swapped his suit and tie for mud, sweat, and teamwork as part of a daring challenge to raise money for The Portsmouth Academy and the wider Thinking Schools Academy Trust family of schools.
Daniel Botting, Principal at The Portsmouth Academy on St Mary’s Road in Fratton, joined fellow staff members – who named themselves the TSAT Terriers – to take on the gruelling 12km Commando Series obstacle race at Hever Castle in Kent at the weekend [Sunday 12 October].
The team battled through tunnels, mud runs, and Royal Marines-style obstacles, all to raise funds for literacy resources and mental health charities.
Led by the Thinking Schools Academy Trusts senior leaders, the team showed incredible determination and camaraderie throughout the challenge.
Mr Botting said: “We took on a 12km obstacle race as a team from across our Trust. It was muddy and challenging, but it also produced some great laughs. What a fantastic way to raise money to support our pupils, alongside an amazing team of colleagues”
“The whole team are grateful to friends, family, and colleagues for their generous donations and encouragement. We've raised more than £1,100 so far, which will go towards supporting literacy resources across our schools and mental health charities, so thank you to everyone for their support.”
In Portsmouth, improving language and literacy is a high priority.
“It is well established from research that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have generally heard millions of fewer words than their more advantaged peers and that there is a significant impact on the life chances of children with poor speech and a less well-developed vocabulary” says the Portsmouth Education Partnership on their website.
Mr Botting added: “Some of the most disadvantaged children in our city attend Thinking Schools Academy Trust schools in Portsmouth. We know how important it is to help close gaps in literacy and language development. Supporting mental health is also vital to ensuring every pupil can succeed at school, so it’s fantastic to be part of a trust-wide campaign to raise money for resources and raise awareness about these issues.”
Donations are still being received: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tsat-terriers-commando-challenge?utm_medium=CR&utm_source=CL
A proportion of income will support the work of mental health charities across the regions the Thinking Schools Academy Trust serves.