By Emma Tilsley

THE first step in a major overhaul of a Hampshire school’s playground has been completed – and it is proving a gigantic success.

Students at Hiltingbury Infant School are enjoying their newly refurbished playground, featuring a large dinosaur sculpture.

It is part of a larger revamp of the Chandler’s Ford school’s playground which, once complete, will also feature a new wooded area and garden.

Headteacher Cathy Moden said: “It’s amazing, I love it.”

Mrs Moden is keen to move on to the next stages of the developments, including introducing a children’s garden at the rear of the school.

It will feature raised beds, allowing children to grow and learn about plants.

Mrs Moden said: “We’re working with the Chandler’s Ford Gardening Society, who’ve been along to talk to us to give us some advice.

“They are going to go forward and help us actually create a gardening club, so the children would be really involved in the planting and anything that we grow.”

Alongside the dinosaur themed area and garden, the area playground will involve a wooded area, where the school hope to develop some “woodcraft type of activities.”

School bosses hope to insert a little trail that children can come in and out of, incorporated through the outdoor activity areas.

Cathy Moden says: “We’ve had involvement from businesses in the local community to help with development.

“It’s very exciting. It’ll be a nice area, so we’re focused on really involving the children, understanding the environment and taking responsibility for it as well.

“This gives them a sense of ownership.”