Play pagoda brings a touch of the Orient to school’s pupils

The pagoda at Cundall Manor School’s Pre-Prep has been funded through an outdoor play grant from North Yorkshire County Council. Children got the chance to cut a red ribbon – symbolising the colour for good luck in China – and had a tea party while trying to eat with chopsticks to commemorate the occasion.

It accompanies a genuine yurt – a Mongolian hut – both of which provide areas for teaching, help demonstrate cultural architecture and give shaded areas for play.

The outdoor area is an important part of pre-prep’s facilities. The school, which has boys and girls from two-and-a-half up to 16 years of age, is set in 50 acres of grounds and also has full-size American Indian teepees – plus the largest hand-carved totem pole in Yorkshire – that are used for on-site camping trips. The pagoda is part of a wider investment in the school’s facilities which has recently seen a new complex of 15 classrooms for the upper school.

Pre-prep headteacher Amanda Kirkby said: “This new pagoda is a very welcome new addition to our play area – at Cundall we recognise that education is not limited to the classroom and we enable our children to grow through experience so they reach their true potential.”