Two stunning playground developments at Christ Church Primary
Our Sales Director, Paul Bayliss, worked in partnership with Christ Church CE Primary School to redevelop their early years outdoor learning environment and another area of their playground for both KS1 and KS2.
An early years playground brimming with learning opportunities
The school’s original early years playground lacked imagination and playground equipment that promoted creativity and child-led play. Some of the climbing equipment was beginning to look dated and un-fit for purpose and there were grassy areas that would become unusable on a regular basis due to the English weather.
We have now transformed the area into a fun, colourful and energetic outdoor learning environment that can be accessed all year round.
The Kenilworth Play Tower
Our Kenilworth Play Tower is the centrepiece of the area and a favourite amongst the children. They absolutely love climbing to reach the top of the tower, to then slide all the way back down again! The climbing wall, steps and rope net will develop children's overall strength and fine motor skills.
Although the main focus of the tower is to improve children's physical development, they will also begin to develop their communication and PSED as they socialise and help those that are struggling to climb or face the slide.
Our Modular Play Towers are a huge hit with schools - visit our Modular Tower Page to learn more.
Colourful and imaginative playground flooring
To eliminate the school’s problems with the playground surface, we installed a mixture of Wet Pour, Playbond, Saferturf and Artificial Grass surfacing.
Our surfacing installation will protect children from falls to encourage safe risk taking and ensure the area can be accessed in all weathers. We also wanted to turn the playground floor into a resource for learning with the inclusion of an A-Z Snake for literacy and a Roadway for physical development and children’s understanding of the world regarding road safety.
The Roadway includes a Zebra Crossing which encourages children to stop, look and listen before crossing the road to the Kenilworth Play Tower.
Visit our playground flooring page to view all of our surfacing options.
Exciting messy play zones
We created a Water Play Zone to promote investigative learning which includes our Water Wall, Water Table and Blue Saferturf surfacing. Our Water Wall will help develop children’s understanding of water flow, gravity and other scientific concepts while our Water Table can be linked directly to mathematics as children pour and measure water.
To create an area where children can experiment with mud, we installed our Mini Mud Kitchen, Dig Pit, Rope and Pulley Material Mover, Weaving Panel, Large Chalkboard and Large Paint Panel.
This area will transform into a mini quarry as children transfer mud ingredients from the Dig Pit along the Rope and Pulley to re-stock the Mud Kitchen. The children will turn into young chefs as they cook and bake tasty mud pies and cakes.
Our Large Chalkboard can be used to write down recipes and our Paint Panel will encourage children to express themselves with art and design.
Take a closer look at our range of messy play equipment here.
Imaginative play, expressive arts and den-making
At the far-end of the playground, we created a zone for imaginative play and expressive arts where children are free to make as much noise as possible.
This area includes a Performance Stage with Mark Making Boards alongside a Mirror and Batonka Panel. When using this area, children will develop their self-confidence, self-esteem, PSED, communication and language
We created a den-making area to encourage children to plan, investigate and construct dens using our Den making Posts. This open-ended resource encourages children to use their imagination and build anything from a spaceship to a cave.
Moreover, we added moveable artificial gross topped seats to create a reading area and a place for children to unwind during busy school days.
An all-weather Multi Use Games Area for KS1 and KS2
On the other side of the school, we developed a Multi Use Games Area for the KS1 and KS2 children.
Before our development, the area had a tarmac surface which would become slippery during the winter months. The tarmac surface would cause minor injuries with scrapped knees becoming a regular occurrence when playing sports.
We eliminated these problems by installing an all-weather artificial grass pitch with a red running track around the perimeter. This fantastic multi use game area is now a safe and inspiring place for the children to play football and develop their fitness and technique.
The red running track can be used as a warmup zone and the colour contrast contributes to good sportsmanship as the children will know when the ball is out of play.
A Multi Use Games Area is the perfect Sports Premium investment that will build a lasting legacy at your school. Visit our Sports Premium Page to find out more.
It was fantastic to work with such a wonderful school in Stoke-on-Trent and after going back to visit the school, it was great to see so many happy children fully embracing their new-look playgrounds.
Would you like to speak to one of our Playground Consultants to discuss developing your outdoor learning environment? Complete our Online Form and we will be in touch to arrange a free consultation, quote and design presentation. Alternatively, you can call 01625 890 330 (North Office) or 0117 379 0899 (South Office).
