A PRIMARY school has won a prestigious national learning award for its outstanding outdoor play area.

Esh Winning Primary School in Durham was awarded a Platinum Outdoor Play and Learning (Opal) award after tremendous improvements were made to the school playground.

Over the course of 12 months, children were provided with a wide variety of items – including loose tyres, milk crates, tarpaulins and teddy bears – to encourage them to play creatively.

The school was given a glowing 96 per cent success result by the Opal judges and was secured as one of the country’s top five schools for play.

They also won a £10,000 lottery bid to improve their brand new play systems, which include a sports climbing structure and tunnels for the children to crawl through.

Deputy head teacher Helen Grainger said: “We are very proud of all the staff, children and governors at Esh Winning Primary School, and we would especially like to thank the hard work of our play workers Yvonne and Lindsay, who have lead the charge with creating new play opportunities for children.”

“Our head teacher, Mrs Diane Kime, is retiring this year and this award seems a fitting tribute to see her off.”

Mrs Grainger added that she hopes the school would become a beacon of high learning standards in the County Durham area, and that children from other schools would be given to opportunity to come along and experience Esh Winning’s outdoor play area for themselves.