Hundreds of children at a large Derby primary school where play is deemed as important as lessons have been chalking up some great times with the helping hand of a local company.
Pupils of all ages from Arboretum Primary School, based at Corden Street in Normanton – which has more than 600 children on roll – have been loving the simple pleasure of an old-fashioned box of chalks at play times, thanks to science company Lubrizol whose UK headquarters is based at Hazelwood near Belper.
Lubrizol has paid for a year’s worth of coloured chalks so that children can enjoy ‘Chalk Fridays’ in the playground.
School leaders say the initiative is all part of allowing children to enjoy the pleasure of playing and youngsters of all ages just love getting colourful and exploring their creativity in the fresh air.
Hassan Uddin playing with the chalk donated by Lubrizol.
Sarah Ferguson, senior phase leader, as well as behaviour and play lead at the school, said: “The children here absolutely love the chalks. It’s all part of our overall outdoor ethos. We want children to be absorbed in their playing and to have a fabulous time in their lunch break. We’ve got children practising fractions with them, and writing messages to each other. It builds their creativity and it builds their learning as well.”
The donation from Lubrizol is part of an ongoing partnership between the global science company and the school. Lubrizol has previously paid for saplings and gardening tools so that children could plant a mini-wood, a fitting donation given its tree-related name.
Now the school has been working with the award-winning OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) programme to make sure children have good quality play times. As well as Chalk Fridays, pupils also enjoy den building, rough and tumble games and playing with tyres at lunch times.
Mrs Ferguson added that it was particularly important children had a good time because they had missed out on so much play during Covid.
She said: “When it was Covid, there was no equipment out in the school at all. The children weren’t allowed to play together at first and their circles of friends had massively reduced. 20 per cent of a child’s school life is taken up with play time. If they don’t have a good play, that has a big impact. It’s so important for their creativity, for their development, and for communication too. A lot of our children don’t have English as their first language. If they don’t have great play experiences, that can affect their development.
“Lubrizol’s support makes a massive difference to us because school budgets are getting smaller and smaller so to have these chalks given to us is brilliant. Their donation is giving the 600 children at Arboretum a fabulous time at school.”
Claire Hollingshurst, from Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee, said: “I’m delighted that we are able to support Arboretum Primary School with a year’s supply of coloured chalks. As a science company, we are all about developing the inquiring minds of the future. Something like a box of chalks may seem simple and old-fashioned, but it is allowing children to relax and explore their creative side, which is a vital part of learning. Science is about asking questions and figuring things out, and the earlier we can encourage children to do that, the better.”
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