YOUNGSTERS at a York primary school now have a place where they can have a quiet moment to themselves.

A new 'reflective area' has been officially opened at Heworth CE School – a place where students could learn to be quiet and breathe out, to develop healthy habits of rest and reflection.

The Friends of Heworth Church of England Primary School welcomed local ward councillors Claire Douglas and Anna Perret in to school to officially open the space which has been created by rejuvenating an underused part of the playground.

Cllrs Douglas and Perrett said: "This has been a fantastic whole school project from Heworth Primary.

"It’s been wonderful to see how everyone has worked together to turn a muddy corner of the playground into a green and quiet oasis that every child can enjoy when they need a break.

"Heworth councillors have been more than happy to add their support to this. Looking after our children’s emotional wellbeing should be a priority for us all."

At the start of the 2018-19 academic year the Friends of Heworth School set a themselves a target of raising enough funds to create the area.

The plan was to rip out an old, broken and tired part of the playground and transform it into an area that could serve pupils for years to come.

Rob Ainsworth, part of the Friends group, said: “As a small school with limited resources it was a daunting task to raise sufficient funds for the project.

"Ice-cream sales, school discos and an entry in the Micklegate Soap Box race all helped to raise funds, but we would not have reached our target if it wasn’t for the funding from the Heworth Ward Committee.”

We as parents are super thankful to everyone who made this project possible, one mum said: “Speaking as a mum with a child with some additional needs, I think it's great to have a quiet space for kids to take themselves to if feeling overwhelmed by noisy playground/sensory over-load.”

The children have been delighted to explore this new part of the playground also.

Abbie, aged 8, said: “It’s not muddy anymore, I like the grass and space to sit on benches with my friends to talk.”

Noah, aged 7, said: "It's good to have grass and benches to sit on.

"There was nowhere to sit and be quiet before. It's somewhere to calm down."

Michael Carr, head of the school said: “At Heworth School, we want all of our children to be able to flourish at all times of the day.

"This reflective area is brilliant and really helps our children to develop relationships in a new and healthy environment."

Heworth CE became a founder member of Pathfinder MAT in 2016.