22nd November 2023
Finally!! We are so excited to share the news we shared with all our children on Thursday! Our new playground development! For a few years we have been dreaming about making changes to our playground space to make it a space everyone can enjoy during their play and lunch times.
Our overall objective is to enhance our outdoor environment for children to improve overall health and wellbeing. We want to deliver additional and sustainable improvements to the quality and variety of activities to promote physical activity. However we also recognise not every child wants to spend their whole lunch running! We therefore want to deliver a quiet, reflective space for children to retreat from the ‘busi-ness’ of the school playground for reflection, contemplation or prayer. In addition, we would like to increase the number of different activities available to children around the main playground to reduce the numbers on the playground itself and increase the safety of this space.
This design will deliver all of this and when shared with our children, it received an overwhelming thumbs up! We will enhance areas already available for physical activity to improve and maximise their use, whilst also introducing new and varied areas, providing different opportunities for children to keep active. A new large, covered reflective space has also been incorporated into the environment for children to retreat to. Finally, we will introduce new spaces for children to play creatively, read quietly or explore nature.
Around 70% of the cost will be funded by school, using our PE Sports Grant funding and school club monies. The Friends of Alveston have also made a significant donation of £10,000 which is the result of our parents and children supporting the many events the Friends run. We have also saved donations made in the past from for example, second hand book sales at SPAR and profits from Brian Johnson's book 'Just Six Square Miles'.
Although we are just over 10% short of the complete cost the development, we did not want to delay the installation - especially when a window opened unexpectedly to install before Christmas! The company has said they will install our design in full for a 90% payment and allow us to pay the remainder interest free. To cover this final part, we have made applications for grants including from the Stratford Town Trust, local councillor Kate Rolfe and TESCO. In addition, the Friends of Alveston fund raising will continue to support us to fund this final part.
The children were delighted with the design and we really do believe this plan will further improve our children's overall health and wellbeing during their unstructured play.
Installation starts on Friday 1st December and, weather permitting, we hope to have everything installed by the time the children return in January. Now that really is a fabulous Christmas present!
Please be aware that during installation areas of the playground will be fenced off for your safety. These will be clearly marked. Please ensure for your child's safety that all children and younger siblings remain with you at pick up. Thank you.
