RAGAN VC School is moving to its new site later this year, but those behind the new school want to gain funding to make the most of its outdoor learning potential.

To do this, a campaign has been started on the OneFamily Foundation website, which awards grants of up to £25,000 for community projects.

A request has been put forward under the Raglan Outdoor Learning banner to receive funding and help make the school's facilities as flexible as possible.

Raglan VC School headteacher, Jeremy Piper, said: "The new school is going to be providing us with an amazing learning environment, both inside and outside the building. As we have been developing how we can use the site, the learning opportunities and the curriculum, it has become increasingly clear how much potential this new site offers for us as a school, the wider community, and other schools and educational establishments.

"The budget for the new build has created an amazing outdoor environment, but as is always the case budgets are finite and it is at the stage of the process that we are looking to provide more than the original school build budget was able to provide.

"The opportunity arose through one of our school parents to put ourselves forward for the OneFamily Foundation bid process so that we can support, from the school's perspective, extending the possibilities of our new site from the very start."

The project aims to provide an outdoor space to inspire storytelling, games and creative learning.

Quiet spaces will be set up too with the use of tunnels and screens created by planting willow.

There would also be space for people to play sports with football, rugby and archery facilities on offer.

Raglan School plans to use its archery resources to make the sport available on the curriculum for Monmouth Comprehensive and the cluster primary schools.

"Our vision is to be able to work as a school with other schools, local groups, and the wider community to be able to provide outdoor learning opportunities and opportunities to develop a range of skills in the outdoor environment," Jeremy said.

"This is a key part of the development of the curriculum for our new school build and we are looking to be able to share this in a wider context than purely our school.

"By extending sporting opportunities such as football, rugby and archery we are able to extend our curriculum coverage and opportunities for all children, develop new skills, but also to open up these opportunities to groups beyond the school – working closely with local community clubs and groups.

"Equally, by working to develop sculptures, artwork and growing structures we can engage actively with local artists and develop areas of the school that extend opportunities for the children working with local groups to develop areas of the school site to suit a range of needs and aims for adults and children alike."

With no village hall in Raglan, the plan is to make the new school a community hub, available for all to benefit from.

"We can see a huge potential in the opportunity that we have been given by Monmouthshire County Council and Welsh Government in having a new school build," said Jeremy.

"We hope that should we win this bid it will be the start of a collaborative project that will positively impact the children, staff, school, and the wider community."

Pictured are Raglan VC School children doing archery at Hilston Park with Gwent Outdoor Services. Picture is courtesy of Gwent Outdoor Services.