The new adventure playground at St Patrick’s Catholic School at East Gosford has been officially opened. It has been designed to encourage social and emotional learning by allowing children to explore their world through play.
Parents and children from the school community celebrated the opening with a sausage sizzle, choir performance and blessing by their Parish Priest, Father Tadeusz.
The new playground adds model shopfronts, play kitchen, letter boxes, sandpit, car tracks, dry creek bed and crossing bridge to the existing climbing equipment. There’s also a stage that allows the children to perform creative plays and dances. Assistant Principal, Michelle Perry says “the children are extremely excited about dressing up, going shopping and opening their own businesses in our much anticipated new play area.”
“The idea is that after the parent and teacher, a child’s environment can be their third teacher,” said Sally Harrison, Early Learning Officer at the Catholic Schools Office. “They’re learning to share, to take turns, modelling real world behaviours when they play shops.”