School Council and Parents and Friends are delighted to announce we have been awarded a Department of Health and Human Services Schools Shade grant of $23,400 to build a new shaded sandpit with surround seating on the north side of the BER. This shade structure and sandpit will go some way to replace the big old shady sandpit that was removed to build the new Prep building.
The grant will also enable us to plant some mature trees in the central terraces and some more indigenous tube stock on the west side near the bike shed. Another element of the grant was a sunscreen grant.
We have been awarded $700 worth of sunscreen for students which aligns beautifully with our school Sun Smart Policy. This grant would not have been successful without the development of the Landscape Master Plan and without the support of Parents and Friends fundraising in 2019 to build the sandpit.
DPS fundraising contributions will fund the sandpit component, with the DHHS grant funding the shade structure and surrounding plants. In 2019, there was a large amount of work undertaken regarding this application and thanks must go to Kate Lockhart and Felicity Christian for laying the ground work and to Nic Alonso and Kate Lockhart for working together in 2020 to complete the application, gather quotes and subsequently submitting the application on behalf of DPS. It is anticipated that the structure will be built over the summer holidays with the support from a local building company.