PUPILS have stepped up to answer their school's SOS call.

Popular St Bartholomew CE Primary School need to raise £10,000 to fix a leaking roof and replace the windows at the school.

The school has managed to successfully bid for funding from Manchester Diocese ­— £39,346.50 to repair the roof and weatherproof the school building, and £61,482 to replace the old rotting wooden windows.

But to secure the funding, the school has to raise 10 per cent of the costs and has launched a fundraising campaigning.

And now appreciative pupils are leading by example by undertaking a sponsored walk, starting at the Westhoughton school and trekking up through Borsdane Wood to Hindley, through Hart Common and back to the school. They are hoping people will sponsor them through their Go Fund Me Page.

The 14-strong group said: "We will be walking from St Barts up through Borsdane Wood to Hindley, through Hart Common and back to St Barts, a fair distance for our little 5/6 year old legs.

"It is a fantastic school who fully support the children with their physical and mental wellbeing and have provided lots of support during lockdown, to the point that our headteacher and deputy head knocked on every pupils door to give gifts and see how the children (and parents) were. It really put a smile on our faces."

And their efforts will make a huge difference to the very youngest in school with the roof leak affecting the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One pupils.

Headteacher Mark Johns said: "I think that it is absolutely amazing what our children are doing to raise funds for our school repairs - they really epitomise the whole spirit of St. Bart's - we are a true family that looks out and supports each other."

He added: "The EYFS/KS1 roof is leaking and our reception class is the worst ­— they have to have buckets out whenever it rains which obviously gets in the way of our children playing and learning. The Year One and Year Two Classrooms are affected but not as badly.

"We're also having our Windows replaced in our Key Stage Two building as they are wooden and rotting."

The school originated in 1739 and opened on the current site in 1860 as Westhoughton Parochial.

Mr Johns said that such an old building brings many positives including the space but that it also brings some negatives and the main one being that it is in need of some repair.

School budgets are always tight and in the current pandemic traditional fundraising events have had to be cancelled and schools have been committed to helping children deal with the challenges the pandemic has thrown-up which has also had a financial impact ­— so the school would welcome any help to raise the money from businesses and the community.

To sponsor the youngsters and preserve the building for future generation  visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/st-barts-westhoughton-leaky-roof?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer