Ready to play: Labrador schools excited for new inclusive playground equipment
Two schools in southern Labrador are eagerly awaiting the arrival of inclusive playground equipment.
Labrador Straits Academy in L'Anse au Loup and St. Mary's All Grade in Mary's Harbour will soon the new equipment, which will allow students with mobility challenges to play alongside their friends and classmates.
Colleen O'Brien, the principal of Labrador Straits Academy, says the equipment the school will be adding includes a musical chimes panel and a sandbox.
"It is open and there's no barriers preventing any child, whether it be someone in a wheelchair, someone who has to be manoeuvred around, to get to the items," she said.
The playground has an open design and sits low, so children of all ages and physical abilities can benefit from it, she said.
"It's going to be positioned in such a way so it's not encumbered by anything else so it's going to allow not only children who may have obstacles and disabilities or equipment like wheelchairs and things to use, but they can also interact with their peers, so it'll be open to all students."
Outdoor play keeps children active and healthy, but also lets them connect on a social level, regardless of any challenges they face, said O'Brien.
"That was one of the big reasons why we made such an effort to try to make sure we had inclusive playground equipment, because we wanted to ensure that all of our students had the opportunity to play outside and interact with their peers."
O'Brien estimates that two to five per cent of students have accessibility issues, and the school has always made every effort to get them involved in play.
"This will make an addition to it, and it'll enrich it even more," she said. "It's not that it's kind of labelled as inclusive equipment, because it's going to be open for all, but it would allow them to have more interaction and have their peers maybe involved more."
The equipment was delivered late in the fall but due to the frozen ground will be installed in the spring.
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