Jen's swim for Dunton Green PTA

Hi, I'm Jen and I'm raising money for the Dunton Green Primary School Parent and Teacher Association (PTA). I have a daughter who has just started in Reception and I am also a Governor for the school.

Following the birth of our third daughter in March 2021, I have been swimming at our local swimming pool and in Chipstead Lake to improve both my physical and mental wellbeing. I've always loved swimming and so this seemed like a natural way for me to have some 'me time' a few times a week.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, I signed up earlier this year to do a 2.5km (1.5 mile) swim in the lake at Hever Castle on Saturday, 25 September. As this is timed well with the start of the new academic year, and Dunton Green PTA are doing a fundraising drive for a number of initiatives, I thought it was a good opportunity to tie this swim in with supporting a good cause.

Dunton Green Primary School is a small village school with 180 pupils, aged 4-11. The school has been educating the children of this community for over 100 years, but now more than ever, we are facing significant financial difficulties.

We've seen great improvements in recent years – both academically and regarding extra-curricular activities. We are now striving for our students to have the same opportunities as those attending other local primary schools. Our Ofsted rating has rapidly gone from “Requires Improvement” to “Good”. In June 2019, we were delighted that our pupils won the annual District Sports Inter-School Competition in the medium-sized school category, and in 2020 we were the overall Primary School Champions in the Kent Literacy Award.

However, due to the age and historical nature of our buildings, our classrooms and facilities urgently need modernising to make them safe and fit for purpose. We need to upgrade our ICT equipment and we would like to purchase a mini bus for our school. We have a higher-than-average intake of pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds at Dunton Green Primary School compared to other local schools (over 30% are eligible for Free School Meals, compared to the Kent average of 17.2%) and, throughout Covid, the school went to significant lengths to support all pupils, but particularly our vulnerable pupils. We had approximately 25% of all pupils in school for the duration of lockdown which was much higher than the average for primary schools, alongside the remote learning support for all pupils. 

We have just 15 old, inefficient laptops to share between 180 pupils. By raising £750 (or more!), the PTA will purchase new ICT equipment for the school.

I would be delighted if you would consider supporting my fundraising. I've been squeezing in training in between looking after our three girls under five and have managed to build up to doing regular 1km swims three times a week and a weekly open water swim. I'm still swimming in just my costume (my most recent swim in early September in Chipstead was only 17 degrees), but will make sure I have a wetsuit for Hever! It's going to be a challenge to do 2.5km in open water, but those who know me well with know I like to push my boundaries! I swam in the Serpentine in London as part of my fundraising for VSO and swam in Lake Windermere to raise money for NSPCC, but I haven't swam this distance before, or since having children.

Thank you so much,

Jen