MOFFAT Academy pupils have been successful in a bid for community funding for a senior trip.
Pupils Euan Bain and Andrew Carlton spoke on behalf of the S6 year group at Tuesday night’s community council meeting.
And they managed to secure funding towards the cost of an outdoor team building experience in partnership with Moffat-based business Kayantics. It will include bridge building, raft construction and pizza making, and is designed to encourage and develop leadership skills, team building and interpersonal skills.
Explaining the toll the pandemic has on student life, Andrew said: “Over the last few years everyone has been hit by coronavirus in different ways, and student life has been negatively impacted in schools.
“Also, school excursion opportunities have been seriously limited and as a result many have missed out on trips they otherwise would’ve had the chance to go on.”
Headteacher Tara Woods added: “This year group have really missed out on opportunities to develop confidence, employability and inter-personal skills because they’ve been the hardest hit by covid in the stage of education that they’re at.
“They have also been hit by events that happened before Easter in our school, so they’ve had an awful lot to deal with in terms of trauma and just challenges.”
Some members of the community council were sceptical about the lateness of bid, which was only submitted the night before the meeting.
Chairman Liam O’Neill said: “My only concern is that we normally expect a funding application to come in much earlier. It could set a precedent.”
However the funding was granted, but with a timely warning for future bids
