CHRISTMAS has come early to Woodmill High School thanks to a £50,000 donation from Sky!

The cash came as a welcome surprise to the school after what has been an extremely difficult year for staff and pupils.

It’s been challenging year for all our schools but the fire which tore through Woodmill in August 2019 before the pandemic made it even more devastating for everyone involved with the Dunfermline school.

The money will be used to give pupils the opportunity to learn new things in different ways – both within the school and on trips out. Pupils will also have their say about what they would like to see some of the money used for.

Sandy Macintosh, rector at Woodmill High School, said: “This money will go above and beyond in helping us deliver fun and memorable experiences for our pupils.

“All of our pupils and staff have had a really difficult year so it’s fantastic that we have had this wonderful donation from Sky to make things a little easier in 2021.

“All of the pupils and staff at Woodmill High School would like to thank Sky for their amazing donation of £50,000 to support our school community after the fire that damaged our school in August of last year.

“We have a large number of parents and former pupils who work within the Sky organisation, who immediately after the fire were very keen to offer us their support. For that we are hugely grateful.”

It’s not the first time that Sky have supported Woodmill. Just after the blaze in 2019, they also pledged £50,000 to the school.

Woodmill was damaged badly by fire on August 25 last year. Soon after, a 14-year-old boy was charged with wilful fire-raising and appeared in court in connection with the incident.

In the aftermath, pupils were sent to schools across Fife before the gradual return of year groups in January. But when the pandemic hit, that delayed things even further and it wasn’t until October that everybody was finally back together when the remaining pupils from the Department of Additional Support (DAS) returned.

Mr Macintosh added: “Within the school, we want our pupils to be directly involved in helping to decide how this amazing donation should be spent.

“At the moment, it’s really difficult to plan external activities as the COVID restrictions mean that we are more limited in what we can do, however, there is a strong feeling from our pupils that we should be considering field trips, outdoor learning, transportation to events and opportunities to enhance learning as key areas that could be supported by this donation, once we are able to do so. We look forward to sharing how the donation is spent so that the kind people at Sky can see the impact of their generosity.”