A school for children with learning difficulties and complex needs in Stockport has sadly been vandalised, leaving the students without a beloved learning facility.
Castle Hill High School in Offerton — formerly known as Offerton School — was reopened as a community specialist education school back in 2014 after moving from its original site in the Brinnington area of the borough, and currently teaches and looks after around 325 students.
Taking in kids from ages 11-18, Castle Hill has remained an important educational facility for those living in Stockport and has regularly held an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating, providing its pupils with access to everything from science labs, food technology rooms and design workshops to computer suites, art rooms, multi-use sports and games area and much more.
One of the aspects the school and its students were most proud of was the ‘Forest School‘: an outdoor-focused learning approach which sees children interact with their environment and others in it. In the case of Castle Hill, these lessons originated in a specially-designed container located at the back of the school but, sadly, during the recent half-term break, the facility was destroyed.
Gemma Minshull, whose 12-year-old daughter Maddie attends the school, says that she and countless other kids were “left so upset” by the arson and has since issued a plea online, asking Stockport locals and surrounding communities to “please help us to restore our beloved forest school”.
ADVERTISEMENT
As she explained, “During the half-term break an intruder broke into the school grounds, deliberately setting fire to the forest school container, destroying everything.”
“The Forest School is an amazing educational approach to outdoor learning, designed to inspire all pupils. The real power of Forest School is its multi-sensory environment. This child-centred learning is integral in meeting the needs of the diverse range of children who attend Castle Hill High School.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Setting up a GoFundMe to try and raise enough money to replace everything lost, Gemma went on to reiterate the importance of the forest school, emphasising that it can be key in helping children “work closely with others… gaining more independence, develop confidence, self-esteem” and more.
On a brighter note, in less than a week more than £6,340 has been raised to help replace everything that was lost in the blaze, including replacing the cargo container hub itself, wellies and other items. Local taxi company Lynx Taxis even donated £2,000 outright upon hearing the news.
Offerton locals have even been donating wellies and coats of their own for when it gets back up and running. Speaking to the MEN, teacher John Hadley, who has worked at the school for over six years says, says the staff have been overwhelmed by the support.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s been amazing, we have been bowled over. There’s been a real outpour and a huge coming-together”, he said, once again reinforcing how much these students get from “being in a multi-sensory environment”.
You can do your bit to help by donating to the fundraiser HERE.
Featured Image — Castle Hill School/Wikimedia Commons/Gemma Minshull
News
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’, new study reveals
Emily Sergeant
An eye-opening new study has found that only 5% of Mancs still use cash as their preferred method of payment nowadays.
It comes as no surprise that cash is less of a ‘king’ nowadays than it used to be, but now a new report by global financial technology company SumUp has suggests that only 5% of people in Manchester prefer to pay with cash, while 59% choose debit and credit cards, so that leaves one question… is Manchester on its way to becoming a cashless city?
To discover how payment preferences are evolving, SumUp conducted a nationwide survey to gather insights from UK consumers about their payment habits.
The company was particularly intrigued to not only discover payment methods people prefer, but what their concerns around certain payment methods, alongside how they feel about businesses that don’t accept digital payments.
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’ / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash) | Pexels
Firstly, before we go any further, it’s important to note that almost two thirds (63%) of Manchester residents said they have changed the way they make payments over the past year.
Unsurprisingly, debit and credit cards remain the top choice for the majority of Mancs, with over half (59%) saying it was their preferred method of payment, followed by mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay at 24% – which is likely thanks to their ease of use and the ability to have multiple cards on one device.
While a third (31%) of Mancs said that they ‘don’t mind’ cash and still opt to carry it for situations where digital payments aren’t an option, a growing number of people in the city are feel that digital payments are more favourable, with 25% thinking that businesses should adapt to modern payment methods and whilst 28% finding it ‘inconvenient’ when a business doesn’t accept digital payments.
A further 11% of people even say that cash-only businesses wouldn’t be an option they’d consider, and would actually avoid them wherever possible.
Only 5% use cash as their preferred method of payment / Credit: Rawpixel
When it comes to concerns around digital payment methods, where do Mancs stand then? Well, the survey found that a third (33%) of people are worried about their reliance on technology, especially being unable to pay if their phone dies, for example, while an additional 32% of people are concerned about security risks such as hacking, fraud, or stolen card details.
Among other things, 26% of survey respondents also said they worry about the privacy aspect of digital banking and the tracking your data.
“While debit and credit cards continue to dominate as the preferred payment method, it’s clear that cash is slowly declining in use, particularly among younger generations,” Corin Camenisch, who is the Marketing & Growth Lead at SumUp, commented on the report.
“Looking ahead, we can anticipate a rise in innovative payment methods like digital wallets, especially as younger consumers increasingly embrace the convenience and flexibility they offer.”
Featured Image – Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)
News
Met Office predicts UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer
Emily Sergeant
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for a ‘hotter than average’ summer this year.
Fresh off-the-back of the news that 2025 is already the hottest spring on record, with a recorded 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March until 27 May, beating out the previous sunniest spring in 2020 by just four hours, the Met Office is now predicting that the UK is on the verge of a summer that’s ‘hotter than usual’.
According to its three-month outlook, the Met Office has predicted that it’s 2.3 times more-likely than ‘normal’ that it will be hot in the UK between 1 June and 31 August.
The average temperatures during those months are set to range from 10-17°C.
🌡️ ☀️ The UK has recorded its warmest and sunniest spring on record, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
Spring 2025 is now the 4th sunniest season overall for the UK, with only 3 summers sunnier since 1910.
Details in release below, or read this short thread 👇🧵
After it was revealed that this has also been the UK’s driest spring in more than a century, meteorologists are warning Brits that there could heatwave conditions could be reached at various times throughout the summer.
The release of the long-range forecast – which gives an indication of possible temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed over a period as a whole – comes after temperatures soared to 8°C (46F) above the average for this time of year this Saturday just gone (31 May).
It is important to note, however, that the Met Office thinks these predicted temperatures are similar to those in recent years, and it does not guarantee ‘prolonged’ hot weather.
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer this year / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
The Met Office said in a statement: “While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.
“The increased chance of hotter than average temperatures is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves, but it does mean that heatwave conditions could be reached at times.
“However, it’s important to bear in mind that an increased chance of hot conditions could also reflect a mix of hot and cool days, warm nights, or less extreme levels of warmth rather than continual heatwave conditions specifically.”
Danny Jones -
13th June 2023 
