The ball has begun rolling on a plan to redecorate and bring life back to some important facilities at Ashburton College. A group of teachers have taken it upon themselves to redecorate the school’s toilets to try and change a culture of vandalism and damage that exists currently. Teacher Shelly Robson, a self-proclaimed Facebook addict, said she was scrolling through the social media platform one day and saw photographs of school toilets that had been redecorated and painted with positive messages. “I liked and shared the post and a few other teachers commented saying that would be really cool for us to do,” she said. Robson said the group of teachers behind the project are operating off a zero dollar budget, but hope to have one set of boys and girls toilets done before the end of the year. The toilets are currently painted with an anti-vandalism paint, which will require multiple layers of different paint to cover to be able to decorate the bathrooms with the positive messages they want. “Our painting contractor has offered to help us getting paint at a discounted price but with the zero budget and applying for funding taking time, we are on lookout for any donations (of old paint that is no longer needed, or equipment such as rollers, brushes and drop cloths), or labour,” Robson said. Those looking to offer support can either get in contact with Shelly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by contacting the school office on 03 308-4193. –

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 22 November 2018