New Playground Structure

At the present time, Holy Name of Mary has no playground play structure for students in Grades 3 to 8 to use. In August of this year, we were forced to close our play structure and swings after it failed a mandated safety inspection. The inspection led to the conclusion that the equipment could not be repaired and, as such, was closed before the first day of school, leaving students without any play structure. In addition to the structure being closed, the swings were also deemed unsafe and we were forced to close these as well.

This has been a difficult period of time for the students of the school as there is little else to do during our two 15 minute recess breaks and our 45 minute lunch break. In addition to the activity of playing on the swings and play structure being lost, there is the social interaction and physical fitness component of their breaks being lost. In addition, this has left a void in the availability of community play facilities for neighbourhood children to use in the evenings and on weekends.

With our push to encourage and promote physical activity with our students, there needs to be a variety of activities from which to choose to meet the varied interests of our students. At the present time, our activities are limited to soccer, tetherball, basketball and baseball. Without play equipment, we have no equipment to promote climbing, swinging and a greater sense of creativity to partake in imaginative play. In addition, a well designed play structure allows for activities to increase muscular strength and flexibility. All of these things are aligned with our focus to encourage healthy and active living in our youth.

Play structures are also an excellent means to promote social interaction between groups of students. In a relatively small area, a large number of students are given the opportunity to engage in conversation with one another, problem solve and create with one another. They learn effective cooperation skills as they develop an understanding that they must learn to co-play with other students.

Certainly one concern that needs to be considered whenever play equipment is closed is the lack of available things for children to do in the school yard. What inevitably happens is students end up standing around in groups and talking rather than engaging in activities that promote exercise. This runs contrary to our goals of promoting physical activity in children and is not something we want to stand idly by and allow to go on for too long.

Play structures are expensive and tight school budgets do not allow for an immediate purchase of a new one. Swings are also expensive and, again, an immediate purchase is not something that can be done. To purchase a new playground structure and new swing sets could easily run into the $25000-30000 range. To generate these kinds of funds could take years of fundraising and, quite frankly, I don't feel this is something that can or should be left for long. This is where the Aviva Community Fund could be a huge bonus for Holy Name School as well as the entire St. Marys community.

In the evenings and on weekends, the play equipment and swings are used by various families. This provides a place for families to come together for physical activity and fun to take place. At the present time, this option for families has been taken away. So, this is not just an investment that will help the school, it is a project that will benefit the entire community. We are seeking a $30000 fund from Aviva to purchase a new play structure and swings for Holy Name of Mary School and the surrounding community.