The winners of last year’s School Build SOS contest are urging others to put themselves forward to be in with a chance of winning a makeover worth thousands of pounds.

St Christopher’s Primary School, Cowley, has officially opened its outdoor classroom, kickstarted with the £7,500 prize from our annual Leadbitter and Oxford Mail competition. And headteacher Alison Holden called on other schools to make the most of the opportunity.

She said: “We have a wonderful space here and we have been able to use it for literacy, drama and maths activities outside.

“In the sunny weather, they have been taking the children into the storytelling area for stories which is really lovely because it’s quite shady.”

The prize paid for landscaping and preparing the ground, moving a pond, providing picket fencing to make a storytelling area, creating platforms, providing benches and sinking stones in the ground to make a fairy path.

The school then used a similar amount of its own money to add a pirate ship and additional seating.

Mrs Holden said: “Winning the prize really gave us a kickstart and it meant we did it over a much shorter timeframe.

“It was just marvellous to get that – it really launched it.

“To other schools, I would say you’ve got to speculate to accumulate, have a go.

“It’s a big thing to win but you don’t just win the prize, you get a lot of community spirit out of it too.”

It is the fourth year the Oxford Mail has teamed up with Abingdon based construction company Leadbitter to offer the prize.

Leadbitter regional director Cliff Thomas said he was keen to see the difference improvements could make.

He said: “We always take photographs once the job is completed, but we sometimes lose track of what we achieved compared with how we started, so this time I would like to make sure we take pictures before as well.”

Schools have until Thursday to enter, and should send the attached form to the Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0EJ.

Entries need to explain the project in no less than 300 words, how it will benefit pupils and how it is sustainable.

It must not need planning permission or major structural change.

A panel of judges will pick 10 finalists.

From June 25, each of the projects will be outlined in the Oxford Mail, with tokens printed alongside each story.

Then it’s down to the schools and their supporters to collect as many tokens as possible, mathematically weighted according to the size of the school.