CHILDREN at a Rossendale primary school became surveyors and health and safety officers to clinch a £5,000 windfall for the school.

A group of 14 pupils from Water Primary conducted a six-week project to compile a bid to win a grant to improve the Burnley Road East school's playground, from the Woolworths Kids First Playground Partnership scheme.

School administrator Ann Hartley, who led the project, said: "Our playground is a bit stark and needs quite a bit doing to it, I read about the partnership and suggested it to the children, and they really took to it."

The scheme, funded by the independent charity, promotes children's play by awarding grants to UK primary schools to develop playgrounds. It requires schoolchildren to get fully involved at every stage of the bid, from consultation and design of their ideal playground, and then the implementation and maintenance, empowering pupils to make decisions about their school environment.

Mrs Hartley said: "The children were so dedicated, working through many of their breaks and dinner times to carry out the work. They really did do everything, they measured the whole school's perimeter, did risk assessments, costings, and carried out market research by asking their fellow classmates about what they wanted the playground to be like. They even set up a competition for pupils to submit the best design.

"They kept a logbook, documenting everything that happened, and every meeting that took place. They were really wonderful, and I was so proud when we were awarded a grant."

The £5,000 comes from a pot of £500,000 for schools nationwide, and £100,000 for Lancashire.

Mrs Hartley added: "We applied for a £10,000 grant as what the kids wanted ideally would have cost more than that, but we didn't expect that and £5,000 is a fantastic boost for a small school like Water. It was the first time we've applied so we were really pleased."

The group of children - who are aged from seven to 11 - will meet this month to decide how exactly the money will be spent.

Headteacher Helen McLenahan said: "It's brilliant news for the school, and also excellent that the children did such a good job."