Prestonfield Primary School parents and teachers to take on 'viral' bungee jump to raise funds for new playground
Group to take on viral bungee jump to raise funds for playground
Parents and teachers at Prestonfield Primary School are taking on a viral 40-meter bungee jump in a bid to raise enough money to transform their “concrete jungle” playground.
The group of six, each scared of heights, will spend the May 18 holiday flying at speeds of over 50 mph towards Perthshire’s River Garry before the bungee cord kicks into action, swinging them safely clear of a wet landing.
When the school’s parent council saw videos of daring jumpers on social media, they knew it would be the perfect way to raise funds needed to improve the playground.
The first of its kind in Britain, the Highland Fling Bungee near Pitlochry has taken social media by storm with videos of those brave enough to jump racking up millions of views.
The parent council explained that they always wanted to soften up the school’s concrete playground, but even with events like school fairs, they have never had the funds to make it happen.
JP Mason, PE teacher at the school, admitted he will be “quite anxious” when he prepares to jump but said “that’s the whole point”.
He said: “A lot of my job in PE is to promote things, particularly sports and physical activity, that the kids don’t initially enjoy doing and that’s going to push them out of their comfort zone, so we thought let’s practice what we preach. “
The group are hoping to raise £8,000 through events like the upcoming school fair and hope the bungee jump’s go-fund-me campaign can make a £2,400 dent in that target.
They hope to soften up the school’s concrete playground, extends the trim trail and are looking at potentially getting larger pots of money to fund a multiuse games area or even a small astroturf.
“I’d say about five per cent of it is not concrete, but the 95 per cent is just tough to play football on,” Mr Mason said.
Ideas for what the new playground can look like have come from pupils at the school, who are “really excited” about the bungee challenge.
Prestonfield is one of Edinburgh’s smallest schools, which Mr Mason said “only adds to how close some of the families are”.
Families and other teachers making the two-hour journey to Pitlochry to cheer on those taking part.
Mr Mason added: “I’ve worked in a few schools but this in terms of the staff and the school it’s probably one of the strongest staff teams I’ve worked with in terms of how
much they do for their school.
“Thousands of teachers across this city go above and beyond for what they do for their kids, but I’ve found particularly in this school our staff always go that extra mile.
“I think putting a bank holiday towards traveling to Pitlochry to jump off a bridge attached to a rope, I think that’s probably, fair play.”
You can donate to the fundraiser at https://www.gofundme.com/f/prestonfield-primary-school-highland-fling-bungee-fundraiser