Project playground: less tarmac, more fun!

Outdoor play is a crucial part of Primary education and has huge benefits for children's physical and mental health and wellbeing. Being outdoors supports emotional and social skills and playing in more natural environments helps to instill an understanding and appreciation of wildlife and nature from an early age. 

The teaching staff at Meersbrook Bank School like to give the children as much outdoors time as possible, however, all of the playgrounds are in serious need of renovation!

The Top Yard:

The Middle Yard:

The Bottom Yard:

Our playground to do list:

• The tarmac across all of the playgrounds needs replacing. In the top yard, the tarmac covering the play area becomes very slippy when wet (and we do get the odd bit of rain in Sheffield...) and is the cause of numerous accidents. The middle yard is on a slope, which limits opportunities for games and we'd like to do some landscaping here to make the space more useable. The bottom yard frequently floods when it rains, so we need to install some drainage solutions so that the playground can still be used after wet weather.
• The playgrounds are lacking in natural areas where the children can observe and learn about nature and we'd love to introduce a wormery and minibeasts area, as well as adding lots more plants to support bees and insects.
• There is very little play equipment, and the equipment that is there is in need of replacement. We want to install a range of fun equipment so that the children can fully enjoy their time outdoors and have a proper break from indoor learning.
• We want to set up different zones and sensory areas, to ensure that children that need a quieter space can enjoy outdoor time too.

These improvements will cost a lot of money and as a small school with an already overstretched budget, it seems like an impossible dream. The school's wonderful staff and students carry out numerous fundraising activities and Friends of Meersbrook Bank School run several fundraising the events throughout the year, but we're still barely scratching the surface of the amount of money we need to raise.

If we are going to make this playground dream a reality, we need your help! 

Aviva Community Fund are kindly matching every donation we receive through this fundraiser to give us a real chance of raising the money we need. Every donation, however small will help us move closer to our target, so please consider donating to us if you can.

Many thanks for your support from Friends of Meersbrook Bank School.