The senior class at the Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School and Kindergarten — Nellie Rawle, Matilda Bullard, Yasmin Segal Fridberg, Will Hsu and Mika Noble — have spent most of the year designing, planning and building an outdoor play area.
Mika said she wanted to leave something behind before moving to high school next year.
"We were thinking we’re such a groovy class and it would be a shame of we just left to [go to] high school and everybody would forget [us]," Will said.
"So we conjured up quite a magnificent project idea by which we would surely be remembered."
They group noticed the school did not have much playground equipment other than some monkey bars and a "lonely slide".
So they decided to do something about it.
The pupils worked out that they would need exactly $1986 to complete the project and applied to the Otago Community Trust for funding.
"Applying for the grant ... and waiting was probably the hardest and most nerve-racking part,’ Will said.
While in the design phase, they decided to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
"We thought it would be meaningful if we could use the trees around us," Nellie said.
The students and a parent helper (a builder) stripped bark from branches of a macrocarpa tree on-site to build a climbable structure.
"Some times the bark peeled off beautifully, but other times it was stubborn and took more patience," Yasmin said.
They dug one metre-deep holes, placed the posts and filled them with concrete, they also dug a pit for the rest of the playground.
The school was gifted a swing, rope, ladder and rings to complete the fit-out.
The group named the playground Te Toi Takaro, which translated to "the art of playing".
"It sounded good, fitted and everyone agreed on it," Mika said.
