£21,500 play area puts pupils on track for fun

●● Reception pupils enjoy their new play area at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Bacup. A BRIGHT and colourful new play area is inspiring the minds of the youngest children at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Bacup.

Before the school invested £21,500 in the equipment, the Reception class led on to a smaller sectioned-off area of the yard, with no tracks, a small hut and a sand and water tray.

Reception teacher Emma Duffy said: “They would often just end up running around and although we had bikes there was nowhere for the children to properly ride them.”

Now the area has been transformed with a bike track complete with crossings, climbing poles, a mini trim trail, a climbing wall and much more. Artificial grass means the area is accessible in all weathers.

Miss Duffy added: “It ●● More pupils try out the area has completely transformed the provision for pupils and they love it; it is the first place they all want to go as soon as they come into class. There is a pulley system for the mud kitchen so they can transport mud to play with.

“They have a water wall where they have their own tap and different pipes that they can move about and an investigation area.

“We have now been rated good by Ofsted and at the start of the year I had 19 pupils in reception and now I have 24.”

Amy Oldham, Early Years Foundation Stage leader, was part of the design process along with headteacher Kathryn Bishop and Pentagon, who carried out the work.

She said: “We want to be able to give our children outdoor life experiences to boost their confidence in taking a risk and learning how to express themselves.”