DONATIONS from around the country have come flooding in to a Southampton school after teachers made a plea for basic supplies.

An educational resource company based in Sheffield says they will send thousands of items to Valentine Primary School after head teacher Liz Filer said she couldn’t afford to buy pencils, glue or play doh.

As reported Ms Filer sent out a Christmas wish list to parents in a bid to plug a funding gap that she says has left her with only enough cash to pay for essential items.

The list was put together after a meeting to launch a campaign - set up by the National Education Union.

The Hands Off Valentine campaign is calling for Southampton education chiefs to step in and help the school with its budget deficit - which they say amounts to a £400,000 funding gap.

Now companies have pledged to support the 740 pupils at the Sholing school – the biggest primary in the city - with supplies.

Educational resource company Twinkl says they will be send 100s of pritt sticks, pairs of scissors, and hand writing pens as well as other resources to help teachers at the school.

Twinkl’s PR manager Anna Simmons said the company read about the wish list on the Daily Echo site, and added: “We are trying to do what we call RAKs - random acts of kindness.

“We send things out to different schools and individuals as a thank you and to help.

“Everything we do is to help those who teach.”

Totton based salt manufacturers NGS have also pledged to step in and have told Ms Filer they will pay for the items she needs. Company chairman Vijay Karia said: “It is extremely important for UK businesses to support their local communities through these difficult financials times.

“It is also equally as important for news broadcasters, such as the Daily Echo, to continue to convey messages of need as and when they arise so that local businesses and people can step up and provide that support.”

Ms Filer said she has also received offers of help from other companies, as well as parents and said: “It’s amazing. It’s been really great.

“We put the list together because parents wanted to help but what’s really great is we can now save a bit of that and put it into staffing.”

At the time of asking for help she said: “It’s embarrassing. We are getting more money - but it’s not enough. Our staffing costs have gone up by quarter of a million this financial year - but the school budget has only gone up £58,000.”

Also on her wishlist were cheap microphones, pencils, rulers, mirrors, protractors, erasers, whiteboard pens, paint brushes, felt-tip pens, and watercolour paints.