School budget cuts have forced parents and staff at a Co Down school to rally together at a special event to raise £11,000 for new equipment.
Moneyrea Primary School found themselves in need of new outdoor play equipment as well as funding for special education resources.
But when they heard there was no room in the budget due to cutbacks , parents rallied around to help raise the funds in their own unique way.
PTA members, staff and pupils put on The Greatest Show last month and raised £11,000 which will go towards desperately needed resources at the school.
Karen Hamilton, whose youngest daughter Phoebe is in P7, told Belfast Live it was not the first time the PTA had stepped in to help the school due to dwindling budgets.
"We have done a few of these events over the years if there's a need in the school," she said.
"I am a school governor and with budget cuts now all primary schools are sitting with a deficit. There's no money for anything outside the norm that the school needs, they have to be given funds by us as parents.
"The big need was special education and outdoor play equipment as the current equipment was tired and not suitable but it's thousands of pounds.
"We decided to rally round parents and staff and anyone from the community who wanted to be involved, children as well, for the show. That was the thinking behind it, raise money for outdoor play equipment and special education resources for children with additional needs.
"The dream was to raise £10,000, we are a school of 200 so we are a tiny school in the village but we have raised very close to £11,000."
Parents and staff gave up their free time to organise, rehearse for and take part in the musical extravaganza which took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Shaws Bridge on May 25.
They sold 650 tickets with past pupils, including Karen's 13-year-old daughter Bethanie, coming back to help choreograph and put the show together.
"I pulled in anyone I knew, I know a vocal coach who helped and my husband is a drummer so we got a band together, everyone gave up their time completely with no cost for all the rehearsal and prep," said mum-of-three Karen.
"We were delighted and sold 650 tickets, it was just the community coming together wanting to support the school. People voted for their favourite act and the person with the most money in their bucket won.
"A lot of time went into it. It was an immense amount of work.
"It will not benefit my daughter but children coming up behind her will.
"We do not do it for the craic, it is fun but there's such a need now with cutbacks. There were 256 children with no places last weekend and some were from our school."
In the past the PTA have organised a Night on Broadway which paid for 35 iPads, they have also raised funds for a new school mini-bus.
"We wanted to inspire schools and show you can put on something like this and make a difference," she said.
"When you see the need, I think people rise to the occasion."
In a statement, the school said it was fortunate to have a "very active PTA and supportive parents" and schools were under threat due to "inadequate budget provision".
"Unfortunately, we as a school and PTA are required to put on these type of events to fund our increasingly inadequate school budget," they said.
"This year we raised money for special educational needs provision and resources, outdoor physical activity equipment and for ICT equipment and maintenance.
"Previously our PTA have hosted similar large scale events and they tirelessly work throughout the year to preserve and sustain an adequate level of resources to meet curricular requirements for our children.
"Schools and education system is under threat due to inadequate budget provision and they cannot continue to function at their maximum potential with such limited funds."
A Departmental spokesperson said: "The Department fully acknowledges the financial challenges facing schools and continues to make the case each year for additional funding, based on an analysis of the financial pressures facing the sector. That said, we do not determine what the final outcome will be each year, as the education pressures are considered alongside other competing pressures across all departments. Overall budget allocations to departments must be funded from available resources and are decided by a political process.
"While it has been challenging in recent years, the Department must operate within its overall approved budget allocation each year. Based on the Department’s 2019-20 opening budget, c91% of the total education resource budget goes towards funding schools and pupils. Please see the link for a breakdown of the Department’s 2019-20 opening resource budget."
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