ONE little boy at Beckley Primary wants a new school sandpit so much that he has been bringing in 5p of his pocket money each week to put towards it.

But five-year-old Finlay Colverson-Martin will be able to keep his money for himself if the 150-pupil school wins the Oxford Mail and Leadbitter’s School Build SOS competition, providing £7,500 worth of free building work at one Oxfordshire school.

The school – the smallest on this year’s shortlist – already has an outdoor area used for teaching in all subjects, and has been looking at ways to develop it further.

The children’s message was clear: they wanted a large, walk-in sandpit, covered by an awning, where they could hold full-class lessons and play during breaks.

Beckley Primary School headteacher Claire Bishop said: “We want to improve our outdoor education and we do not currently have a sandpit.

“They would be able to go into this as a whole class, and learn about maths, language or all sorts of things.

“Children learning outdoors is what we really want to implement, because many children get excited by doing things rather than listening.”

Year Three teacher Hilary Jones said: “The children are very enthusiastic about it.

“We have got an outdoor area and have been looking at developing it and asked the children what they wanted there.

“The sandpit was a favourite among all of them.”

She added: “Boys in particular respond more to working outside. There are no restrictions on space, and they can take what they learn in the classroom outside and conduct their own experiments. They can make as much noise as they like outdoors.”

Children’s own designs of what they want at the school includes slides, steps, and tree trunks used as seating. Others want a boat, a pond and boulders.

Pupil Percy Hunt, 11, said: “The younger children are getting really interested in it.

“They are outside a lot of the time, so a sandpit would be great for them, because they could play in it, learn in it, and have fun in it.”

To support the school’s bid, send your vouchers to Beckley Primary School, Church Street, Beckley, OX3 9UT