A shiny, new set of play equipment has given Millers Forest Public School students plenty to smile about.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Worth $55,000 the project was a joint effort between the school’s P&C, East Maitland Kiwanis and the state government.
“We used to have some old rusty equipment that was here a really long time,” Year 5 student Phoebe Humpreys said.
“Now we have our new equipment and the kids love to play on it.”
The project received $20,000 from the community building partnership, corporate donations and in-kind work from the Kiwanis.
“Basically all they had was a ditch with a couple of steel climbing structures ex-Maitland Park [which] I remember playing on 40 years ago,” Kiwanis president Steve Mulquiney said.
“For Kiwanis, a local children’s charity, this has been the perfect project.”
The Kiwanis and the P&C approached local industry like Baiada, which contributed $5000, and trades to carry out the work.
The work included the playground borders and soft fall materials.
The Kiwanis also worked with Beresfield Men’s Shed to provide a sandbox.
Maitland MP Robyn Parker helped open the playground and acknowledged the traditional owners of the land.
“This is about custodianship, and that’s a very big word, but it means taking care of the place and that’s something the first Australian’s did,” she said.
Ms Parker said the new playground was an extension of this.
“You are making sure that the next group of children and the children after them will have better facilities."