School pupils welcome benefits of outdoor play
18/10/2010 Children at Acresfield Primary School in Chester are enjoying the many benefits of outdoor play, with a schoolyard packed to the brim with exciting new equipment.
The new outdoor play activities include an enlarged football pitch to make exercising outdoors easier and more enjoyable, while a pond and wildlife area promise to take science lessons out of the classroom.
Mike Dixon, the schools' head teacher, told the Chester Standard that pupils had been over the moon with their new facilities.
“The children are really enthused and engaged in their outdoor environment now as a result of the changes, not least, because they have been involved in the decision process from the beginning," he said.
Allowing pupils to put forward their own outdoor play ideas, the school set up a special 'council' of children, the Better Playtimes Group, who represented their peers and were consulted on all aspects of the development process.
Earlier this month, Camilla Chafer, acting editor of TheSchoolRun.com, said that rising trampoline sales were proof of how parents want their children to spend more time exercising outdoors.
The new outdoor play activities include an enlarged football pitch to make exercising outdoors easier and more enjoyable, while a pond and wildlife area promise to take science lessons out of the classroom.
Mike Dixon, the schools' head teacher, told the Chester Standard that pupils had been over the moon with their new facilities.
“The children are really enthused and engaged in their outdoor environment now as a result of the changes, not least, because they have been involved in the decision process from the beginning," he said.
Allowing pupils to put forward their own outdoor play ideas, the school set up a special 'council' of children, the Better Playtimes Group, who represented their peers and were consulted on all aspects of the development process.
Earlier this month, Camilla Chafer, acting editor of TheSchoolRun.com, said that rising trampoline sales were proof of how parents want their children to spend more time exercising outdoors.
