Heathridge and Poseidon primary schools celebrate opening of nature playgrounds

THE weather didn’t dampen the excitement of hundreds of Heathridge school students last week when the nature playgrounds they have watched being constructed over the past few months were officially opened.

Last Thursday, Heathridge Primary School officially opened its playground, while Poseidon Primary School held a celebration on Friday.

Joondalup MLA Emily Hamilton attended both functions, with the State Government providing $40,000 and $37,000 respectively to help fund the projects.

She acknowledged the hard work and dedication from the schools’ P&Cs in securing the funding and also making their own financial contributions.

“Over time, the P&C Association has been raising funds to build a new playground for everyone but due to us being such a small school this was taking a long time,” Heathridge principal Denise Jeffs said.

“So when the school received a Local Projects, Local Jobs grant of $40,000 they were very excited to contribute to the cost of the playground with a $10,000 donation.”

Poseidon principal Peter Blackford said their project was a “much needed and long overdue upgrade to the school’s original wooden playground”.

Ms Hamilton said recent research into childhood learning and development demonstrated nature playgrounds were superior to traditional playgrounds, with benefits to children including improved health and greater stimulation to their imagination and creativity.

“As a mum of two school-aged children myself, I know the value of modern play equipment in our kids’ education,” she said.