The original Garrick Green boat was on the main playground for many years and then was moved to the EYFS outside area. The Reception children had numerous years of fun playing on it and eventually, through wear and tear, it turned into a shipwreck! The old boat saw lots of imaginative adventures, storms, sharks and, of course, pirate attacks!

We began fundraising for a new boat in 2021 and this long awaited project could only happen due to the fantastic efforts by FOGG and the 10 challenge, which topped up the money from the school budget. We are extremely grateful to everyone for joining in with the fundraising and to Aviva for having our boat project as one of their community funds where staff can pledge tokens to a specific local project.

The old boat and climbing equipment was so well-used and benefitted the children greatly. It had a great impact on many areas of the curriculum such as early writing skills, physical development, social skills, building resilience and encouraging perseverance, and we hope that the new boat and climbing equipment will help even more with these areas.

           

The Key Stage 1 children were part of previous fundraising efforts, and they will of course be invited back to the EYFS outside area to play on the new equipment so they do not miss out. The children in Jade and Olive class cannot wait to get back outside to start playing on the new equipment too!

                                   

We are delighted with the new boat and climbing area and look forward to seeing all the new adventures the children will set sail on!