Slimbridge Primary School officially opened the new mud kitchen at a special event on Friday.
The outdoor learning area was funded by Friends of Slimbridge School, and The Story Traveller, Bill Church, kept the young audience enthralled with his telling of the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Headteacher James Taylor explained: “It’s promoting creative play and allowing the children to explore traditional ways of playing and using their imagination, which, you know, we’re losing more and more with children with screen time. Getting them outside, doing some creative, using their imagination, is really positive.
“The kitchen cost £4,000, an amazing amount raised by Friends of Slimbridge School to improve our school facilities. Jamie and John Cullimore and Barry Oakhill kindly gave up their time to help dig the base and make it all a reality.”
Rosie Cullimore from Friends of Slimbridge School was involved with the fund raising, which took a year: “We did loads of events – we had happy circus last year, which was a big part of fundraising for it. We’ve had a quiz and a donation of £2,000 from the June Margaret Pavyer Will Trust. We also had donations from Dursley Round Table and Freemason lodges.”
Cullimore Group donated gravel for the site and the mud kitchen was designed and built by Landscapes for Learning – a business that had appeared on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, and was backed by entrepreneur Peter Jones.
Children from the reception class were the first to try out the mud kitchen – making mud pies, using the potions station and chalkboards.
“The children love it,” added Rosie.
