We believe that school infrastructure includes not only the school buildings but also the schoolyards. Important learning takes place in both classrooms and playgrounds! Sadly, school boards do not receive funding from the Province that is specific to maintaining or improving the outdoor component of our children’s schools.
If you agree that schoolyards are a key component of Ontario’s schools, we encourage you to check out the “Schoolyards Count! Initiative” being run by the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA). And to ensure that your local schoolyard gets audited!
They are asking schools across Ontario to help determine how Ontario’s schoolyards ‘measure up’ by taking an hour to use their “audit tool” to assess the quality of your local schoolyard. You could do this as an individual citizen, as part of a parent committee you’re involved with at your local school, or as a school council. Lots of options! The “Schoolyards Count! Initiative” is a partnership between Ophea and a researcher at Wilfrid Laurier University, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.