Northampton Town manager Jon Brady cuts ribbon on Irchester Community Primary's new outdoor play area

Current manager of Northampton Town – and local resident – Jon Brady was on hand to launch the delayed outdoor learning space on Friday, October 25.

Mr Brady said: “It’s really important for me to support the local area. It’s been a passion in helping improve children socially, psychologically, and technically to help improve the ability of young kids.”

Simon Anderson, headteacher of Irchester Community Primary School welcomed the opening of the area funded by the school’s parent-teacher association, Friends of Irchester Community Primary (FICPS).

He said: “Friends of Irchester Community Primary (FICPS) raised a lot of money to fund the outdoor playing area to help us have a range of equipment to support their learning from outdoors.

“It’s all to give our children a wonderful experience, and adds to the education that we already give by taking that learning outdoors.”

The project that began in January takes a corner of the school’s field, and fences it off to accommodate the new facilities giving students a new space to continue their learning away from the four walls of a traditional classroom.

Now that it’s open, students will have access to new facilities and activities including a storytelling area, a summer house outdoor classroom, a pond, a den building area, and fire pit. Parents and carers attended the ribbon-cutting at the end of the school day on Friday.