School kids praise new playground

Wakefield School’s new playground got the thumbs up from the pupils at its official opening yesterday.

Tait Best, 7, said he liked two new tyre swings and the TigerTurf best.

The year 3 pupil said the children had made up lots of games to play on the brightly coloured synthetic surface, including tag on the giant chess board.

Joel (Spud) Hawkins, 10, said the kids also liked playing ‘‘tricky tag’’ on the turf. If someone was tagged in tricky tag, they had to drop down until the tagger had also been tagged, Spud said.

Tom Ladley, 10, added that if two people tagged each other at the same time, they had to play paper, scissors, rock to determine who had to drop down onto the turf.

Despite the fun of playing tricky tag, Spud said his favourite part of the new playground was ‘‘probably’’ the new basketball hoop over the turf, which made for a softer landing than the concrete base under the older hoop. ‘‘It’s a lot better,’’ he said. Principal Peter Verstappen got a full response when he asked the 250 pupils to raise their hands if they liked the playground.

The new space includes a wooden boardwalk snaking across a play area covered in bark with two popular tyre swings under a large tree. There is also curving concrete paths connecting buildings that were previously isolated and the large, coloured all-weather TigerTurf featuring netball and basketball hoops and shooting circles. Several colourful shade sails cover large chunks of the turf.

Verstappen said there had also been below-ground changes including new drainage work to remove water from the previously low-lying grassed area that used to become muddy in the winter.

The playground, which cost an estimated $90,000, was the result of two years of planning, fundraising and construction. The idea came out of a strategic planning day in 2015.

‘‘We formed a small group of parents and staff to consider how the school’s outdoor spaces could be improved as places that encourage students to learn through play and exploration,’’ Verstappen said.

Landscape architect Guy Redmond created some plans and the kids had input, too.

Work started at the end of September and was finished just before Christmas. It was officially opened on Friday when a red ribbon was cut by Nelson Forests managing director Lees Seymour, PTA chairwoman Anne Malham and Asher Robinson, 5, who was having his first day at school.

Funding had come from Wakefield School PTA, the Rata Foundation, Pub Charity and the Education Ministry capital works budget.

A huge chunk was not cash but products from many business including Nelson Forests and Goldpine.

Parent volunteers also contributed many hours of labour and the children were making full use of it.

‘‘I’m delighted,’’ Verstappen said. Equipment gets an ‘A+’ - Page 4