The Staff of Ballycastle Integrated Nursery Unit are jumping for joy at the generous donation from GRAHAM.
Staff and Parents have been tirelessly fundraising for the last two years to raise funds to purchase new child friendly, accessible storage for their Early Years playground. It will not only benefit the Nursery pupils but also their foundation stage pupils.
Paula Donald, Nursery Lead Teacher, said “Our parents have been extremely generous in supporting fundraising events but due to the large amount of funds needed to purchase the shed it had been predicted it would take several years more before we would be in a position to buy it. This generous donation will make a huge difference to the youngest members of our BIPs community as they start their school life”.
GRAHAM are currently undertaking the construction of the new Ballycastle Leisure Centre on the Quay Road, and it has been crucial to establish positive working relationships between the School and GRAHAM to allow for the smooth delivery of the project. GRAHAM have welcomed the opportunity to engage with the school not only in the opportunity to fund the outdoor learning facility and storage unit, but also through the delivery of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workshops with the children, in order to allow them to:
· Understand the full lifecycle of the neighbouring Ballycastle Leisure Centre Build
· Apply STEM skills to real-world challenges
· Explore diverse career pathways in the built environment
· Develop teamwork, creativity, and leadership
Alan McCullough, Project Manager at GRAHAM, said “This will be an ongoing relationship during the lifetime of the project and we look forward to engaging with Ballycastle Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit to deliver core life skills to the pupils”.
Jennifer McGuigan, Principal, said “Our recent ETI inspection, stated that: ‘the learning in our school was carefully planned to connect across the curricular areas’ but highlighted the importance of being able to incorporate the outdoor area to enhance this learning. With this purchase of the new outdoor storage this will now be possible and learning and play will be much more accessible in all weathers for our Nursery and Foundation stage pupils”.
We’re delighted to play a part in supporting their vision for enhanced outdoor learning, and how the new storage will help in making play more accessible in all weather and will create a lasting impact for the children and the wider school community.