At Shaftesbury Park, we believe that every child has the right to play and understand the fundamental role of good learning and play environments in allowing children to make the best progress and reach the highest possible standards they can in all aspects of their development.
We want to install a high quality, outdoor learning and play space to help the children of our local community to develop confidence in their own abilities, be creative and to investigate and solve problems together, finding joy in exploring a natural environment.
What we'll deliver:
- A high quality, outdoor learning and play space for our pupils
- Much-needed play facilities to benefit our local community
- A garden for the children, many of whom have no garden of their own
Why it's a great idea:
This project is a great idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, Shaftesbury Park is set in a ward with limited, safe outdoor facilities for children to play & explore their surroundings and we want to address this. Good play spaces are essential in facilitating children to develop not only confidence in their own abilities, but also their social skills, creativity & problem solving abilities.
Secondly, statistics show that income inequality is relatively high in Wandsworth, with the gap between rich & poor greater here than in 26 out of the other 31 boroughs. This can affect children’s learning with those from less advantaged backgrounds often starting school 19 months behind their peers. Good quality early years provision can reduce this gap & a key part of such a provision is high quality play facilities. As young children learn primarily through play, our venture will have the potential in make a huge difference in levelling the playing field & improving children's life chances.
Steps to get it done:
- Preparatory works - removing worn-out equipment
- Installation of new equipment
- Playground resurfacing
- Grand Opening! Making the facilities available for the school and the local community
Please do donate if you can, but if you can't donate right now you can help us in other ways! Share this project with anyone you think would support us. Share the link at the top of the page on Twitter, Facebook, email, your website, blog, mention us in a phone call or even just a chat over the fence! Many thanks in advance.
