New classroom to open for Birmingham boy with half a heart
St Alban's headteacher Rebecca McKinney, who started the fundraiser, told BBC Radio WM: "It's been such a long journey since last July when it was a little dream of ours because we were so worried Vinnie wouldn't be with his class, so we decided to think big."Without the classroom, Vinnie has had to work in small groups downstairs while the rest of his class worked upstairs.To reach the upstairs classrooms, Vinnie would have to climb two flights of stairs, which a cardiologist and heart charities have told his family would significantly impact his health.
When asked if the possibility of Vinnie moving to another school had ever been considered, Mrs McKinney said to Vinnie: "It wasn't on the cards for you, we said absolutely not, we can't lose Vinnie."She added: "We know his mum also felt so passionately about Vinnie staying at our school because we know how to take care of him. "It's a gift that Vinnie comes here to school every day - not many children with his condition are full time at school - so it's so amazing Vinnie is."
The new classroom is set to open on Friday, with Prof Carl Chinn attending to officially open the classroom, which will be in use in September when the new school year begins.It has a ramp, a toilet, and a sensory room for when Vinnie feels tired and needs to rest.When asked what a difference the new classroom would make to him, Vinnie said: "It will [mean] I can be with all my friends and learn all the things they're doing at the same time."I like all the teachers and friends and I like all the lessons we do."
One of the fundraisers who helped the school reach the target was seven-year-old Bertie, a Year Two pupil at the school."I've been making some designs of football and basketball cards. I sold them at Villa Park and in the school," Bertie told BBC Radio WM.Bertie's efforts raised £5,000 for the appeal, leading the school to nominate him for the West Midlands Lieutenancy Award, with him receiving the Young Citizen's award on Monday.
Mrs McKinney also thanked the many people and businesses who gave their services for free, including project manager John Puttenam and 3D Facilities Management.The headteacher said: "It's been a massive community effort. It's really rebuilds our faith in people and the community."
Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 minutes ago
- BBC News
Extension plan for Derby dental surgery approved
A dental surgery in Derby is set to be extended to treat more City Council has given the go-ahead for Blagreaves Dental Practice in Littleover to build a first-floor side comes at a time when low numbers of people are getting access to dental care in Derby and Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has contacted the surgery for comment. A 2022 report showed that almost 23% of adults in Derby (figures dated 2022) had access to NHS dentistry, compared to 31% in Dental Practice is located at the junction of Blagreaves Lane and Oaklands Avenue, with staff parking at the front and a patients' car park at the were lodged to extend the premises earlier this year because the surgery is "at capacity" and needs more say an expansion will "enhance patient experience" and "future-proof the site's role as a vital community health resource".
The Guardian
2 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Grandparents are carers out of love – and necessity
I look after my grandchildren – at least a few hours for one day a week, often more ('There's an overwhelming bond of love': the grandparents whose kids rely on them to raise a family, 29 July). I love them deeply, and want to offer them whatever steadiness I can, while I can. But love alone isn't what holds this together. I also care for them because their parents, like so many others, are stretched to the edge. Childcare is unaffordable. Work is relentless. There's little left in reserve. Many grandparents step in not as a choice, but as the only available buffer in a fraying system. But that help comes at a cost. Caring for young children is tiring at any age; for older adults, after a full day or more, the next day is often a write-off too, which seems to be something almost no policy takes into account. This reflects the gradual withdrawal of social responsibility from care, and the assumption that families will absorb the shock. We're seeing the effects of this every day through exhaustion, silence and strain carried behind closed doors. As a systemic psychotherapist, I try to pay attention to patterns; what holds people together, and what pulls them apart. One pattern I see is that the work of care has become more vital, yet less visible. Grandparents, like many others, are holding families together behind the scenes. But we rarely speak about it, and policy almost never accounts for it. In this era of rapidly evolving climate disruption and growing social fragility, care is the connective tissue that keeps communities alive. If we fail to recognise and support it, we weaken the very systems we'll need to face what's Hugh PalmerPocklington, East Yorkshire I read your article with great interest as the grandparent of four children, but was sad that you did not take the opportunity to comment on the benefits and burdens for those of us who care full-time for our grandchildren. Over half of the estimated 140,000 children in kinship care are with grandparents full-time, and we are most definitely 'taking on a level of grandparenting that looks a lot more like parenting'. We do miss out on 'just being Granny' as we perform the parenting role with the grandchildren in our care. One of the losses I feel as we parent our 12-year‑old grandson towards adulthood is that he misses out on grandparents and we miss out on grandparenting. Unlike part-time grandparent carers, we don't have less anxiety as we deal with loss of work and income, lack of support, and difficult relationships with biological parents. And our chances of pursuing our own retirement plans are not limited – they're gone. We also struggle with the cost, the sense of obligation and the feeling of having no choice, but to a much greater extent. And we most certainly 'plug the gaps of a system not fit for purpose'. In our case, this is the children's social care system. The alternative forms of care for our grandchildren continue to have persistent deficits that lead to very poor life chances. There are so many benefits to us in terms of the loving relationships we have with our grandchildren, but the deficits are often serious and damaging to our mental health and, sometimes, the stability of our kinship and address supplied When I read about grandparents caring for and loving their grandchildren I feel such utter sadness and envy. Not because my children don't have grandparents but because their grandparents aren't interested in being around them. It's a certain kind of heartache, not to mention the practical side of living with the exhaustion of not having help and having a disabled child. I know they are busy, they have their lives to live, and I understand their desire to protect that. But I will never understand their indifference to their grandchildren and our situation. Everyone who has parents who are involved in their grandchildren's lives are the luckiest people – I hope they know and address supplied Surely grandparents being heavily involved in child raising is only new for the middle classes? Nans at the school gate was absolutely the norm when I was growing up in the 80s, and as a mother of 10, my mother's Mam always had a houseful of HoughtonNewport Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The harsh reality of ‘extreme morning sickness'
Abi Stephenson's article about hyperemesis gravidarum – 'extreme morning sickness' – carried me through memories, confirmation, horror and, at last, hope (Don't call it morning sickness: 'At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me', 31 July). When I hear of a new pregnancy, I ask after the mother, recalling my two pregnancies in the early 1990s. Both ended with successful delivery, and I can't imagine life without my two children. But I wonder whether my daughter will have inherited my predisposition to sickness throughout pregnancy, just as I did from my own mother. It is wonderful news to think there might be some safe medical option for her and many other women. I had many miserable days and nights with sick bowl to hand, eating one Rice Krispie every 30 minutes and always, always, throwing it back up. I theorised that a morsel of sugary goodness would get through, somehow. For my second pregnancy, under pressure to return to work after six weeks' sick leave, I spent a morning in the staff toilet before being allowed home again for another month. The nausea and vomiting started before a positive pregnancy test and ended within hours of giving birth. It took a lot of persuasion for me to embark on a second pregnancy and I've never regretted it, but memories soon fade. Since then I've had chemotherapy, which made me so sick that I required all the anti‑nausea drugs on offer. But being pregnant was worse, maybe because I hadn't anticipated fighting to stay alive as part of the deal. Thanks, Abi, for giving voice to an issue that affects many of us, and causes women to die while pregnant – yet is Wendy BryantChappel, Essex Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
