Portsmouth Business School
Portsmouth Business School staff makeover school playgrounds
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:42:00 BST
Over 30 staff from the Portsmouth Business School harnessed their creative skills yesterday, working together to transform three playgrounds at a local primary school.
Staff members re-vamped the playgrounds at Portsdown Primary School in Cosham as part of a team-building event. They were assigned various tasks from painting a hop scotch to weaving a willow arch.
The event was also part of the University's link with Business in the Community, an initiative which aims to mobilise businesses to make a positive impact in the community, workplace, marketplace and environment.
Sharon Guthrie, Deputy Manager of the Business School’s Undergraduate Office, said: “There was a huge amount of work to get done in a short-space of time, which has involved lots of planning - and worrying! The day has been amazing though. The playgrounds look superb and the event has been successful on two levels: we’ve made a difference to local school children, which is hugely rewarding, and it’s also brought us closer together as a team.”
The staff were split into three teams and assigned a playground each. As well as re- painting existing items in the playgrounds, such as a wooden train and a wendy house, they had to get creative and design a new mural.
They also painted a hop scotch, a snakes and ladders game and a railway line on the playground floor and one team built a mud pit for the younger children to search for small invertebrates such as worms.
School Head Teacher, Irene Baldry, said: “The team from the Portsmouth Business School has worked hard to enliven and invigorate a previously tired play space into an exciting, bright and interactive environment. The staff, governors and pupils of Portsdown Primary School are hugely grateful.”
Among the staff helping work their magic was Faculty Finance Manager Eric De Greef, who said: “The last thing we want is for people in this city to just see the University as a big building and remote from their lives. Getting out into the community is another means by which we can make that all-important connection.”