Trivia night raises funds for nature play space

QUEENSCLIFF Primary School raised more than $4,000 with their Trivia for Nature event on Friday last week (September 6).

Held at 360Q, parents, staff and community members dressed to impress as they came together for a night of trivia, raffles and auctions that also added to the fundraising tally.

Queenscliff Primary School principal Mathew McRae said the nature play space would be an area where kids can go to be creative and imaginative among natural elements.

“It will be a space where students will be able to go there and image and create using natural resources.

“It’ll also be a quiet place for students who are not necessarily engaged in football or soccer, all those active sports.

“There’s so much research that indicates students gain a lot in terms of their sense of self and well-being, being able to have a space where they can engage in a quiet, reflective way.”

The idea for the nature space came from wanting to strengthen the schools sustainability focus while at the same time catering to support the students wellbeing.

Winding paths, mounds, rock garden beds, wooden teepee structures and a large sand area will make up the play space, to be built in the schools playground next year.

“We wanted to replicate the natural environment of the Bellarine, so we’ll have lots of native Indigenous plants all through it as well,” Mr McRae said.

Funding from the Department of Education will also contribute to the play space as well as volunteer work from people with different skills and equipment.

“When we go to build it, we’ll have some local businesses supporting in terms of helping out with the works but most of it will be done in kind with parent volunteers and community members.”

To continue raising funds for the space, the school will hold a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Leopold on November 30.