Ramarama School Playground Appeal

Our playground needs to be pulled down, it's more than 30 years old. A lot of the equipment is broken or missing, and it has been deemed a Health & Safety risk.

The Ministry of Education does not provide funding for the building of a new playground, new schools are being built without one - but for us, they are crucial for the school and community alike and we need your help to get us over the line. We have to raise every single dollar ourselves and have been working tirelessly - we have already raised around 25% of the funds, through fundraising and from local grant providers - but we still have a HUGE mountain to climb and while this happens - the kids and families of Ramarama miss out.

Every dollar donated will become part of this incredible legacy, that will benefit hundreds of children over many generations to come. We would love to acknowledge any support - we can provide letters, sponsor boards, social media mentions etc - please let us know.

About us:

Ramarama Primary School is a small rural school, unassumingly nestled between Bombay and Drury. Our roll is currently 184 and last year we celebrated our 150th anniversary. The school is the heart of the community - many children have parents and grandparents who also attended. Ramarama (the place) is unique in that we don’t have what you would call a ‘centre’ – we have a dairy, a caravan park, a community hall and a school. Apart from these things, we don’t have any parks or playgrounds – things that, by their nature, bring the community together; from all backgrounds and cultures. On our doorstep is the ‘Drury South Development’ which we’ve been told will more than double our school roll in the next few years. We have spoken to the developers and were told that no playground has been planned as part of the development – this decision was made to keep the cost of the houses down. With this in mind, it is critical that we put things in place that allow our community (old and new) to come together. We want to provide a supportive and caring place for our children to grow-up and thrive and in doing so, promote and encourage people to go outside and be active - something that has probably never been more important.

The location of the playground is at the very forefront of the school, every visitor walks past it, every passing car can see it. It has the potential to become the pride of the area. At weekends many parents and locals meet there so their children can play on the playground and use the tennis courts. The South of Auckland is notoriously under-equipped with parks and playgrounds – which is why our school’s playground sees so much use. As of last year, we have a new principal; Tania Campbell. She has been a teacher at the school for over 8 years and is a passionate and dedicated leader – the children at the school are a credit to her and do exceptionally well despite our small size and limited resources. Last year alone Ramarama students won the Auckland ‘Fear Factor competition’, we had 10 children finish in the top 10 at the Pukekohe duathlon and the students are regularly picked to represent ECCS in rugby, hockey, netball, soccer and cross country. We also have a voluntary kapa haka group, which has over 60 students in it – that’s more than 25% of the school, all from different backgrounds and cultures – all uniting under this wonderful collective show of pride and unity. Please see our school’s Facebook page ‘Ramarama School’ for photos and details. The school is seen as a leader for the entire Auckland area for ‘Play Based Learning’ something which is highly endorsed by youth experts and has received a lot of attention in the media recently. It is about encouraging learning through play, and by doing so building up their resilience, social skills and confidence – things that are much harder to ‘teach’ and yet, are so vital to have, especially once they become teenagers and adults.

A playground is at the very heart of all of this - which is why we are seeking help to provide something that will be well-used, cherished and at the heart of our diverse community for the next 30 years!

The new playground has been designed with the help of students' input and in keeping with the school's underlying learning philosophies’ – the equipment will invoke imaginative, fun and challenging play, cooperation, teambuilding, fitness, strength and resilience. It will be able to be used in different ways, for different abilities and skill sets. The layout will also compliment the surrounding area – for example trees and natural slopes in the land, which will encourage the students to love, utilise and respect our environment.

We thank you for any support.

Ngā mihi maioha

Ramarama School