1 Million Steps for Mayfield School

Hi. My name is Tara from N.E.W FIT TORQUAY. I am also parent of an amazing boy who attends Mayfield School Torquay.

The school are fundraising for their sensory room at the main site. Please see details of this below.

To help support their fundraising, I will be walking 1 MIllION STEPS in March. That works out at 32,258 steps/approx 15 miles every single day.

I hope to see many people support me on this massive challenge including walking companions as well as donating sponsorship money. Every penny will go directly to Mayfield School for their sensory room.

A little information on the school.

Want to be part of something Special? Give children with special needs a place to grow, explore, and thrive

We need your help!

We need help to raise funds to refurbish our Soft Sensory Room, giving our pupils a safe environment to explore and develop!

For children with special educational needs, learning how to process sensory information can be an uphill battle. At Mayfield, we understand how critical it is to meet the Sensory and Physical needs of our young pupils—needs that are central to their Education, Health and Care Plans.

That’s why we go above and beyond to create tailored environments and activities that help these incredible children feel safe, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. But we can’t do it alone.

Your support can help us refurbish the tired, broken and worn-out specialised resources and equipment in our soft sensory room that will make all the difference for the young pupils with the greatest needs. Together, we can give these children access to the essential tools they need to overcome challenges and truly thrive.

Who are we?

We are Mayfield Special Needs School in Torbay and we provide education and care to 265 pupils from 2 to 19 years old, all of whom have an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) and are diagnosed with a Special Education Need (Disability). We educate and care for pupils of whom have a Specific Learning Difficulty, Profound and

Multiple Learning Difficulty or a Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulty.

Our vision is for every child with Special Education Needs, to have the education and support they need to thrive. Our mission is "Learning together to be the best that we can be, building on the successes of today, for the challenges of tomorrow." We are immensely proud of our “good” Ofsted inspection (June 2024) which states “Pupils thrive at Mayfield School.”

Why do we need your help?

Learning how to process sensory-based information can be more difficult for children with Special Educational Needs. At Mayfield, there is a significant focus on meeting the Sensory and Physical needs of our young people – a key element of their Education, Health and Care Plan.

Pupils may be sensory seeking which means they look for physical movement or heavy touch to help them understand the world around them. Proprioception (the way we use our muscles to understand where our body is in space) and the vestibular sense (how our body moves against gravity) helps us to feel grounded.

The school site has a number of sensory and movement spaces which are now dated, tired and require full redevelopment to meet the needs of our pupils.

Our priority project focuses on our Soft Sensory Room which is unfortunately at the end of its life. The facility is well-used and so the equipment has deteriorated to the point it will soon be unusable and over recent months has had to be temporarily closed due to Health and Safety Concerns.

How can you help us?

We need to raise £31,601 to refurbish the Soft Sensory Room this summer.

Working with a specialist company this room has been individually designed to meet the need of our pupils.

Any support will be greatly received and will forever help our pupils to "thrive".

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target and make this project a reality.

1. Make a donation. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – please contact Adam Tapp, School Business Manager by using the contact option below.

We appreciate any contribution big or small and we know that together we can make sure our children and the community can have the facilities they need.