A GIANT ruler has been unveiled outside St Mary's Infant School, Frensham, to chart the school's progress towards raising the £50,000 it needs to raise towards funding a half million pound extension for the school. The two youngest pupils, Mairead and Matthew, joined two of the oldest former pupils still living in the village in launching the measure, with a £5,000 block already in place from the PTA and the Friends of St Mary's School. May Bonner, who joined the school in 1925, and John Chuter, a pupil from 1928 and a teacher in 1947, joined the youngsters in performing the honours. The launch of Project Phoenix - so named in recognition of the bird theme adopted by the school, with its classes named Goldfinches, Kingfishers and Woodpeckers - was very well attended, with many parents, staff and local people giving their support. Evie Page, headteacher, kicked off the evening with a speech and there were various presentations explaining the plans and some of the fundraising initiatives. Those gathered heard how St Mary's School, which has been at the heart of the village since 1845, is suffering from the limitations of its size. At present it comprises three classrooms, a library in a corridor, a tiny school office, a tinier staff room and headteacher's office and a small school hall. At the moment, if there is the need to teach a small group, the options are to use the noisy school hall, if it is not in other use, the staff room (if they can squeeze in) or the library (with the hazard of being trampled by passers-by). A scheme has been designed for a two-storey extension by the front extrance that will provide more teaching space without reducing the already relatively small playground. The school must raise 10 per cent of the cost itself and the governors, staff and some of the parents will implement a number of fundraising events over the next 12 months. "There is a lot of goodwill and warmth towards the school and we want to try and include the whole village in this," said Julia Facey, who has had three children at St Mary's and is involved in fundraising. Local businesses have already started to give support, with Longlyf Timber in Tilford making the giant fundraising ruler, The Bridge serving finger food during the launch evening and some staff to serve during the evening and Carl Willson of Castle Street Flowers donating a floral display which was raffled during the event.
