Wilton Public School students are happy to be left in the shade especially if it means beating the heat with the approach of summer.

As the school’s population has soared to around 270 so too has the need for sun shades to allow students to sit outside safely to eat lunch and play. The Bradcorp Community Partnership Fund came to the party with a $7000 donation for a shade soon after the school opened and has now made a second donation to help the school acquire another.

Bradcorp Chief Executive Peter Brennan said the Fund had been established to serve the needs of the local community and education was one of its priority areas.

“Bradcorp is very much a part of this community and we’re only too happy to help where there is a pressing need,” said Mr Brennan. “Schools are the foundation of a strong community and we have been impressed by the impact that Wilton Public School has had, becoming a focal point for students, teachers, parents and the broader community.”

Wilton Public School Principal Debra Gray said that since the school opened in 2011 it had enjoyed support from across the region.

“We have a close-knit community with an understanding of the important role that schools play in bringing people together,” said Ms Grey.

“We are extremely grateful for this latest contribution from the Bradcorp Community Partnership Fund which has come just in time for what is turning out to be a very hot start to summer and will be even more vital to our playground with 75 new students expected to join us next year.”

The school has selected a purple shade to complement its existing blue and orange shades making the playground a colourful place for students to gather. It is the sixth sun shade donated by the Bradcorp Community Partnership Fund to schools in the Macarthur and Wollondilly regions, being Picton High School, St Paul’s primary School, St Anthony’s Primary School and Douglas Park Public School.

Since its establishment in 1998, the Bradcorp Community Partnership Fund has made donations worth around $3.3 million to the local community, two-thirds of which have been directed towards to schools and education.