The playground at St Nicholas at Wade Church of England Primary has been transformed – thanks to the imagination of pupils.
Children were invited to put forward their suggestions to help create a new play-learning experience when the popular outdoor area was upgraded and expanded.
Head Teacher Taralee Kennedy said: “To make sure that children make the most out of every minute of school life we have included them fully to understand what they preferred to see on the playground.
“Break times need to be inclusive of every child – from the sporty to the imaginative, from the creative to the book worms. This is our ongoing brief for the playground resource as it grows.”
With a little imagination children create their own worlds as hobby horses gallop around the playground taking ever higher jumps, and giant construction kits are turned into benches and a bed.
In addition to the library being open for quiet moments of reflection and reading, there are target games and circus skills , bikes, trikes and scooters, a construction shed and creative centre, and the always-popular St Nicholas nine-hole mini golf course.
Mrs Kennedy added: “Playtimes are so important to the children’s personal development, which is something we take very seriously.
“During this time, they learn to collaborate and cooperate, how to lead and follow, make decisions and compromise, imagine and create, problem-solve, invent and innovate.
“This self-directed time is such an important opportunity to allow children to develop life skills. That is why getting the environment right is crucial.”
The next stage of the project is to introduce the ‘small world’ experience. This will feature outdoor dolls houses, cars, trains and tracks, forest pixie and fairy worlds, babies and buggies.
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