Centennial Public School’s vacant kindergarten play area will soon be vacant no more.
The school has been granted $47,000 in funds from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for the construction of a new kindergarten play structure. The old play structure was removed when it was deemed unsafe.
Centennial Public School principal, Carol Gage, says the school is also “seeking to match the funds” to go towards a naturalized play space.
Erica Braunovan, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee for Somerset/Kitchissippi, has children of her own who attend Centennial.
She says the safety process the board follows is not something they “take lightly”, and when equipment is deemed unsafe they have it removed as quickly as possible.
Centennial’s $47,000 in funding will not only allow the school to have an upgraded learning and play environment, but also a safer environment as well.
According to Parachute, a national organization dedicated to injury prevention, “preventable injuries kill more Canadian children than any single disease, and more youth than all other causes combined.”
This year’s fifth annual Ottawa Children’s Gala is supporting CHEO’s “Plan-It Safe” program, an initiative dedicated to eliminating preventable childhood injuries.
Spencer Warren is the chairman of the gala and also the creator of his own charity, “Kids Play Safe”.
Vanessa Grant, media relations spokesperson for the Ottawa Children’s Gala and “Kids Play Safe”, says the charity has the same mission as CHEO’s “Plan-It-Safe” program. However, since Warren’s charity is smaller and not as widely recognized yet, CHEO will be receiving the funding earned from the event.
“1 in 5 visits to CHEO is actually because of those preventable injuries and obviously that is going to happen on playgrounds with kids and so having the proper equipment is definitely important,” Grant says.
This year’s gala features a “Once Upon a Time” theme and will take place on Feb. 21 at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre. If attending the gala, one can expect entertainment for adults and children alike. Attendees will have the opportunity to walk down a red carpet and have photos taken. Face painting, dancing and performances from artists such as Off Beat, Pulse N’Limited, Taylor McIntosh and Davis Dewan are just some of the many other events people can expect to see.
CTV Morning Live Host, Lianne Laing, also hosts the Ottawa Children’ Gala and she describes it as “unique” and “wonderland” type experience which focuses on entertaining, as well as educating the children about safe play.
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, at least 29,000 children in Canada under age 15 will receive emergency hospital treatment for playground injuries each year. 15% of these are head related injuries.
Braunovan says that, like CHEO’s “Plan-It-Safe” program, it is essential to educate children about safe play.
“It’s very important for young people to understand the role they play in keeping themselves safe and to play in certain ways to not injure themselves,” she says.
According to Braunovan, the board recently passed a concussion management policy in January which entails all adults working at the schools in the OCDSB will have a protocol about how to deal with either suspected or actual concussions.