IT'S the rural school with an entrepreneurial spirit.

When children at Meon Valley's Droxford Junior School were challenged to make as much money as they could from just £1 the total they raised astounded head teacher Matthew Dampier.

The astute young business people made and sold cookies and cake, bought and sold products for profit, pickled wild garlic to make pesto, did chores for a fee and bagged and sold horse poo as manure.

It was all part of a fundraising drive to raise cash for the school - and the youngsters went about it with gusto, raising a total of £3246.91.

Mr Dampier said: "It was quite incredible. Before half term we spent a chunk of time listening to the many new entrepreneurs we have in school.

"These astute business people formed new companies, engaged in marketing strategies, generated account sheets, proposed business models and worked energetically and enthusiastically on our ‘Grow a £1’ enterprise project."

"We are all so amazed and very proud of the innovators we have here in school and I am personally blown away by the response to my scheme."

But it's not just money that makes Droxford school go round.

There is a real sense of community at the school as parents and other members of the community lead extra-curricular clubs for the children.

And Mr Dampier takes pride in the programme teachers are involved with at a south coast university.

The 'growth project' mindset aims to encourage children to be confident in their ability, embrace challenges, and never to use the word 'can't.'

  • SCHOOL council is a chance for confident and eager committee members to get stuck in with the day to day running of the school.

The are given the roles of chair, administrator and communication

Confident and eager School Council members engage with the daily running of the school by sitting on the school council. They take on different roles and responsibilities including chair, administration, and communication.

Daisy Golds said: "We just get chosen for it by the school and we have to organise all the meetings".

  • DROXFORD's boys' cricket team are already off to a winning streak - and some players have even professed a preference for cricket than football.

Recent matches at Fair Oak and Havant Cricket Club have seen the boys put their skills to the test with practices and training sessions at lunchtimes.

Dedicated P.E. teacher Mr Banham has the time to encourage all sports across the board and there is an annual sports day in June.

  • THE ALLOTMENT club gives budding gardeners the chance to dig in and get their hands mucky.

With a spacious plot nestled amongst the agricultural fields of Droxford countryside kids have a go at growing strawberries, corn, potatoes, curry leaves, raspberries and beans.

And their experiences outside in the fresh air are always brought back to the classroom. Mr Dampier said: "It's not just about English and maths, it's about enrichment and making sure they have a chance to have a go at everything.

Other enrichment activities include a special trip to the National Gallery in London.

  • YOUNG science technology engineering and maths buffs get together weekly - and have taken part in a major study on water voles on the area. Working with a school governor they have used computer coding to develop an interactive online map to show where water voles have been released into the wild in conjunction with the South Downs National Park - and they took their conservation experience out into the field to watch as the voles were released into the Meon Valley.
  • FRENCH club is popular with the young people at Droxford and they meet every Friday lunchtime for a fun and learning session with a parent tutor.

Children also get the chance to meet successful authors - writer Steve Cole who has written more than 160 children's books came in to the school to give an inspirational talk on using the imagination to write.

Children created their own characters after the session and had their books signed by the prolific writer.

From the head teacher: Matthew Dampier

Droxford Junior School is a beautiful rural school, in the Meon valley, nestled into the hills of the South Downs National Park. A school has been in the village since the mid 1800s – the current school opened between the wars in 1929.

Today our families come from far and wide. We have two fantastic feeder Infant schools and our confident and happy children move on to be successful in a number of state and private secondary settings.

I have been at the school for ten years and have seen the grow into an outstanding school for our children. We have a team of highly skilled teachers and teaching assistants; very proactive governors and incredibly supportive parents. Our friendly and kind children access a contextual curriculum that provides dynamic opportunities to develop skills and enquiry based learning.

We ensure that we provide outstanding enrichment opportunities that enable all our children to move on to the next stages of their learning with confidence and maturity.

We have proved ourselves to be highly successful and our children make excellent attainment and progress.

We have been one of Hampshire’s top performing junior schools for a number of years and last year Droxford Junior School was in the 150 of top performing schools nationally!

Our curriculum is also linked to the geography and history of the South Downs national park and we work closely with the park authority to contextually enliven the learning.

All four year groups attend residentials as well as going on exciting day trips including the National gallery and British museum in London.

We also offer the children a raised awareness of further education by engaging with the local universities – the children actually going to University themselves for a day!

Closer to home we offer a range of clubs to participate throughout the year including: football, cricket, French, film, dance, golf, STEM, judo, violin, guitar, art and drama to name a few.