Matthew Flinders Anglian College has created a new nature playground in its primary campus for students from prep to year 3.
Flinders Head of Primary Trudi Edwards said the students had given the new playspace their stamp of approval.
“Our students have wasted no time exploring their new pole home: climbing, running, jumping, crawling, sliding, swinging, digging, pumping water, balancing on rocks, and exploring the creek bed,” said Mrs Edwards.
“We invited our preps to be the first to explore, and it’s clearly a thumbs up from them.”
Head of junior primary Chris Curtain said the college was committed to building outdoor playspaces to support children’s development.
“We know that outdoor play, particularly in the early years, helps children to build physical competence and also encourages social interaction,” Ms Curtain said.
“Front of mind was for this playspace to nurture our students’ physical, social and emotional skills,” she said.
“The space also provides engaging sensory experiences as this is proven to help children form a positive sense of self and to better understand their world.”
The bespoke playground features wooden decks with rope bridges, a slide, ladders, poles and climbing walls to help students’ physical development.
Under the decks is the perfect space for creative and imaginative games and building.
There’s also a mud kitchen, builders’ yard and creek bed with a water pump for students to explore and develop their thinking and problem-solving capacity.
Designed with natural wood and decorated with a painted jungle mural, the playground complements the College’s natural campus environment with its established trees for shade.
