Local schools get creative with design elements for Glenthorne’s new nature play space

Local schools get creative with design elements for Glenthorne’s new nature play space



Find out more about the com­pe­ti­tion that inspired stu­dents at pri­ma­ry schools in Adelaide’s south to design ele­ments for the new nature play space at Glenthorne.


The design process for Glenthorne’s new nature play space is well and tru­ly under­way, kick­ing off with a com­pe­ti­tion to gath­er ideas from local pri­ma­ry school stu­dents in May.

Sev­en pri­ma­ry schools in Adelaide’s south­ern sub­urbs were invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in a design com­pe­ti­tion for the new nature play space at Glenthorne.

Stu­dents in years two to sev­en from Wood­end, Shei­d­ow Park, Hap­py Val­ley and Sea­cliff pri­ma­ry schools designed ele­ments they would like to see incor­po­rat­ed in the new nature play space, using com­mu­ni­ty feed­back gath­ered from the 2019 com­mu­ni­ty open days as a guide.

The stu­dents were also pro­vid­ed with a video which asked them to con­sid­er incor­po­rat­ing Kau­r­na cul­ture, acces­si­bil­i­ty and aspects of park man­age­ment into the design of their elements.

A total of 49 entries were received from the four schools that par­tic­i­pat­ed. The high­ly cre­ative entries sub­mit­ted by the stu­dents includ­ed draw­ings, phys­i­cal mod­els and videos.

The win­ning entry was sub­mit­ted by Year 6 Sea­cliff Pri­ma­ry School stu­dent Georgie Hunt whose entry of an inter­ac­tive play space for all ages and abil­i­ties in the shape of a wood­en semi sphere incor­po­rat­ed a path for peo­ple with acces­si­ble needs, native plant species and Kau­r­na symbols.

A selection of the competition entries, including Georgie Hunt's winning entry (left)
A selection of the competition entries, including Georgie Hunt's winning entry (left)

Entries were judged by a pan­el which includ­ed Min­is­ter for Envi­ron­ment and Water David Speirs, Kau­r­na Elder Lynette Crock­er, Glen­thorne Part­ner­ship mem­ber Ker­sten Sten­gel and Nation­al Parks and Wildlife Ser­vice Senior Project Coor­di­na­tor Glen­thorne Nation­al Park Jar­rod Eaton.

All stu­dents will receive a cer­tifi­cate of par­tic­i­pa­tion to acknowl­edge their efforts. The win­ning student’s class will cel­e­brate at Glen­thorne with a plant prop­a­ga­tion work­shop and will also take home a prize pack from Nature Play SA, along with a copy of Glen­thorne – a Defin­ing His­to­ry & Indef­i­nite Pol­i­tics’.

The design ele­ments will be pro­vid­ed to play­ground design­ers Tay­lor Cul­li­ty Leth­lean (TCL) for con­sid­er­a­tion and poten­tial inclu­sion in the play space which is expect­ed to be com­plete by the end of this year.