Stanley Intelligence at work!
When our Council team arrived at Kings Park yesterday to talk to Stanley Primary School students about a new playground, guess what the kids were doing?
Sliding down the grassy bank next to the existing playground!
Apparently, kids have been doing this for generations. Sometimes with a piece of cardboard, sometimes without. And that turned out to be a pretty good place to start our conversation.
We've been working with Stanley Primary School on plans for the new Kings Park playground and the teachers have found a wonderful way to bring the project into the school curriculum. The students have already been doing some work on the project, so yesterday was our chance to meet them, hear their ideas and start working through what a new playground might look like.
First, we asked them what they love about Kings Park now and what they want to keep.
Unsurprisingly, the grassy bank was high on the list!
But there were plenty of other things too.
- Keeping a big grassy area for cricket, football and running around.
- Keeping the barbecues and adding more places for families to sit together, perhaps with a table closer to those lovely ocean views.
- Making sure the different areas work together, so some people can be cooking a barbecue, others playing cricket, and younger kids enjoying the playground, all in the same space.
Then we started talking about what could be added and the students didn't hold back!
Ideas ranged from zip lines and jumping pillows to ship-inspired play spaces, a giant seagull slide, more greenery and even an edible garden to complement the barbecue area.
We also talked about making the playground safe, welcoming and fun for people of different ages and abilities.
And the students had some excellent questions for us too.
Where does the money come from? Does Council pay for it? Does the government contribute? How do we work out what we can afford?
They even asked if we would use AI to design the playground. Our answer? We're starting with SI – Stanley Intelligence!! Because nobody knows Stanley quite like the people who live here, play here and use these spaces.
So what happens next?
Our team will take away everything we've heard and come back to the students in a few weeks with examples of some of the things they've suggested, along with other ideas to explore.
We'll also talk about the budget, what different playground features might cost and how we can make choices together. We're not promising everything on the wish list, but we're making sure the students have a genuine opportunity to help shape the design.
A big thank you to Stanley Primary School, the teachers and especially the students. They were enthusiastic, thoughtful and full of great questions and ideas.
And one last thing...
At the end of the session, we asked whether anyone had any final ideas. One student brought us right back to where we'd started – the grassy bank. He suggested, perhaps there should be somewhere to store cardboard. Because that's the best way to slide down it!
We're not making any promises about cardboard storage, but it's a great example of the little things that matter to people who use the park.
The Kings Park playground is part of Council's Community Recreation Fund to improve community recreation spaces across Circular Head. Learn more about the project including project timelines.
