Jabiru Area School celebrates official opening of new playground

There was a great deal of excitement as Jabiru Area School officially opened the new Early Years Playground on Friday, October 19.
The official opening has been a long time coming, and it was a wonderful celebration with the pre-schoolers having the honour of cutting the ribbon so everyone could officially play on the playgrounds and use the equipment.
There were speeches from the Principal, School Council and students with the preschoolers speaking about their favourite area of the playground.
The $250,000 funding for the revamp of the playgrounds was approved in 2016 by the NT Government under the Minor New Works Scheme. 
For over two years the School Council and Principal have worked with the project managers in the Department of Education and Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics to turn ideas into designs, plans, surveys, with holes dug and equipment and plants installed, and now children playing. 
A great feature of the playgrounds are the replica dinosaur bones (pictured below right) in the sandpit which the students can discover and dig up.
An enormous ‘thank you’ to the Jabiru School Council for their hours, passion and drive in ensuring this NT Government project was completed, Lesley Bryce, Charles Chang and Chris Hattingh from Energy Resources Australia (ERA) for donating time and expertise to surveying the grounds, ensuring more money went to purchasing equipment, Department of Education General Manager Infrastructure Adam Walding for resolving issues and removing barriers, Department of Infrastructure Planning and Logistics Project Manager Paul Ling and contractors Freeform Contracting and Outdoor Design. 
It was wonderful to see so many families and children enjoying this celebration.