Previously, we were fortunate to welcome a visit from Junky Monkey’s who brought their loose parts trailer for our whole school to enjoy! It sparked a lot of fun, creativity, and curiosity in play.

Building on this, we are excited to work towards establishing our very own Play Shed here at Sunnybrae - a space that can be open and enjoyed all year round. We are incredibly lucky to have such expansive, beautiful grounds, including our own bush/ngahere on the bottom field, which provides the perfect natural setting for imaginative and adventurous play.

Many schools are now embracing loose parts play as a way to enrich student experiences. These materials encourage creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. Play sheds become hubs of innovation - I’ve seen children design and build everything from go-karts and vehicles to huts, hammocks, and swings!

To bring this vision to life, we would love your support. We are looking for:

• A suitable shed - Garden shed style and lockable.

• Help with setting up the space (shelving, storage, etc.)

• Donations of interesting and creative loose parts, such as wheels, tyres, blankets, mats, tents, poles, blocks, piping, rope, timber, sailing buoys (cut in half), and natural materials

If you’re interested in supporting this initiative led by the Year 6 Student Council, or know someone who might be able to help with time, skills, or resources, we would love to hear from you.

Please get in touch with Camilla principal@sunnybrae.school.nz or Katrina office@sunnybrae.school.nz if you can help in any way.

Thank you very much from Isla, Kiara, Raffa, Gordon, Phoebe, Talia, Tylah, Valeti, Sebastian, Andre, Andrei, Timothy, Xilin & Camilla.