The ribbon has been cut on a long-needed all-weather school sports pitch.
Ravenswood Primary School youngsters have been eagerly watching their new pitch come together over the past few months.
And it was officially opened by Commonwealth Gold medal gymnast Craig Heap and Scotland international hockey player Kerry-Anne Hasting on Tuesday.
And the kids are all thrilled.
“I love how the fences are higher in this area so we can now kick the balls higher without having to run outside to get them all the time” said nine-year-old Luis Penaluna, a member of the school's football team.
Keen sportsman George Merrifield, 11, is looking forward to playing all his favourite different sports on the pitch.
He said, “The pitch is so big! We can play netball, hockey, football and basketball on there.
"Now we can all play in one place and Year five and six can now play against each other!”
Alyssa Muzimbani, nine, loves how the school can all play in one area together.
She said: “It’s really good. I love how everyone can play lots of different sports all in one place”
Children were previously very limited to what activities they could do when the weather was wet but thanks to the all-weather surface on the new pitch this will no longer be a problem.
The area has three full size netball pitches, covering nearly 2,000 square metres and has an international standard hockey surface that has been approved by the governing bodies of England Hockey and England Netball.
Jumara Syeda, Parent Governor, is delighted with the schools new facilities.
She said “As a parent it's a privilege and honour to have these sports facilities.
"For my children to use the facilities here is just amazing to know they have the best of the best”
The area will also be used by the city of Newcastle’s PE and School Sport Service and the Ouseburn Learning Trust, as a centre for inter-school competitions.
The school have felt that up until recently sport has appeared unimportant to Ofsted.
As in the past providing a broad PE curriculum and offering a range of extra-curricular sport would have often escaped the notice of Ofsted visits and in their reports.
At Ravenswood, sport has always been a high priority, with many teachers working their class time tables around their PE class.
Each pupil receives two hours of curriculum PE, including weekly lessons in games, gymnastics and dance.
There are also many hours in a week devoted to extra-curricular sport at lunchtimes and after school.
Head Teacher, Clive Maddison, has worked at Ravenswood for 33 years, many of which he spent as PE lead and is incredibly proud of this development.
He said: “Often with children it is the first time they find out that they are really good at something and that allows them to do and excel in all of their subjects”
“We often find PE, music and art are areas where you can find that spark for children where coming to school becomes really exciting because they’ve found something they are good at!”
“I think there has always been a positive impact for PE and people have always understood that but it hasn’t been as recognised as it is going to be from now on”
Last year, the school was the first primary school in Newcastle to receive the Platinum award for its commitment to PE and Sport. This award can only be achieved after five consecutive years of Gold Awards.
The governors value sport at the school and were keen to develop the facilities. Their proposal was able to go ahead thanks to the generous support of the Garfield Weston 60 Anniversary, who funded £93,000 towards developing the school’s sports area.
Mother of two and governor, Dawn Badminton-Capps, is thrilled about receiving funding for the area. She said: “It’s an opportunity to excel as a school and the area gives the children the opportunity to have a go at all different sports at any level”
