Our school has been very fortunate to receive a government grant for the purchase and construction of a new playground to replace the one that we currently have. Students in all classes (school-wide) have been working through a process of looking at all the components that go into a playground. They have been having discussions with peers in small groups as well as with the whole class.
In our division (5) we looked at the five initial proposed ‘mock-ups’ to determine which of the elements were important to our students. The students knew that they were not voting on any one of the whole pictures but that they were discussing the individual parts of the playground.
We came up with a list of items that our class felt were important elements of our new playground. Most of our students wanted: things to climb (nets, monkey bars, etc); things that spin or swing (tires, saucers); slides; bridges; and balance beams.
At tomorrow evening’s PAC meeting Mrs. Gojevic will be looking for input from the parent community. When all ideas are joined together a new ‘proposal’ will be created by the playground company. It is hoped that this process will be quick so that the de-construction of the old playground, and construction of the new one, can be completed before the poor weather settles in.
We are all excited and looking forward to this new addition to our school grounds.