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Early Years Play Area Transformation At Feniscowles Primary!

Posted on 03 September 2024 by Ben Eden

The Customer

Located in Blackburn, Feniscowles Primary School is regarded by parents and the community as a fantastic primary school for helping children through their educational journey. Led by the fantastic Mr Andrew (the headteacher) and his incredible team, Feniscowles Primary is continuously striving for Excellence' in order to assist children in reaching their full potential.

A picture of Feniscowles Primary School from the outside, showcasing the outside of the school building.

Delivering a high-quality level of education for over 410 pupils in an academic year, this community school has helped thousands of children not only achieve great academic milestones, but have helped children physically, mentally and emotionally develop into great people.

Ingrained within the DNA of the school, this community school aims to shape a child into a 'Feniscowles Child'. According to the school, they intend to create "a school where academic ambition meets exceptional character education" to help children become Feniscowles children. From this intent, they started to focus on their play facilities and how they could improve them.

Meeting The Customer

During the Lancashire Leadership Conference in 2023, our team was approached by Mr Andrew. He explained that he was interested in arranging a site consultation visit to discuss Feniscowles' early years provisions.

A group of Pentagon Play employees attending a conference. They are stood underneath a Pentagon Play stall.

Impressed by our glowing 5-star reviews and brilliant testimonials, Mr Andrew was keen to meet our Playground Consultant, Tom Hollingworth, and work with them to create the perfect playground. After a simple and enjoyable meeting, the objectives were agreed on and the project was given the green light.

Their Objectives

Feniscowles wanted to inject new life into their play area by installing a variety of new playground equipment that would help with child development. Not only this, but the school wanted new surfacing to accompany the new equipment, creating a safe and imaginative environment for children to explore.

Finally, the school really wanted to improve their outdoor learning resources by having a dedicated area where children could learn outdoors in a sheltered environment. Combining all three of these objectives would allow the school to create a playground that helped children develop into Feniscowles children.

Our Approach

Working hard for over 25 years within the playground equipment industry, it's no surprise that we've become one of the leading companies within the industry.

From our innovative and engaging play equipment designs to our incredibly friendly and knowledgable customer service team, we know how to complete a project with 100% satisfaction. Whether it's our freestanding canopies or wetpour surfacing, all of our products are built and installed in the best ways possible.

Freestanding Canopy

Constructed from high pressure treated, tanalised timber and planed and chamfered timber, the 6m x 3m Freestanding Canopy is the perfect way to create outdoor learning environments. Feniscowles' students can learn a variety of topics underneath this incredibly durable and long lasting canopy, as they breathe in fresh air.

A timber, freestanding canopy that has been installed on a playground. The children are sat in the canopy as they take part in an outdoor lesson.

Built with a great rain water drainage system, the canopy will always stay in great condition, no matter how bad the weather becomes. The clear roof also provides a sensory aspect to this playground canopy as children can watch things like rain drops hitting the roof and rolling into the gutter.

Safety Surfacing

Available in hundreds of colours, Pentagon Play's wetpour surfacing makes the perfect safety surface for any active play area. Porous and free-draining, Feniscowles primary school won't have to worry about the durability and maintenance of this fantastic safety surface.

A birdseye photo showing the wetpour road that has been created and installed on the artificial grass play area. The wetpour is a beige colour and has children riding tricycles on it.

Adding a beautiful contrast to the resin bonded EPDM rubber, the school decided to incorporate some of our artificial grass surfacing around the wetpour. Pentagon Play's Playturf has passed FIFA's rigorous durability tests whilst providing an engaging surface for children to play on.

Underneath the Playturf, we installed our famous Dynamic Play Baseworks. With a weed-suppressant membrane, the school doesn't have to worry about constantly de-weeding the play area and can focus on other important issues. The Dynamic Play Baseworks provides a stable surface on most ground conditions, making it the perfect play surfacing.

A birdseye photo showing the artificial grass that has been installed by Pentagon Play. Blue splatter patterns can be seen on the surface, which are custom artificial grass graphics.

Finally, the school wanted to add some imaginative and colourful graphics on the black tarmac that separates the play area from the school building. Encouraging creativity and inspiring imaginations, our Thermoplastic markings are the perfect way to transform boring tarmac surfaces into something more exciting.

Having a variety of different safety surfaces present on the school's playground, Feniscowles has created an environment which helps children escape into their imaginations during play time. In addition, the wetpour and artificial grass provides a brilliant level of safety and ensures that the risk of serious injuries occurring is massively reduced.

A view of the entire play area surface, showing the artificial grass surfacing with patches of wetpour installed on it. Next to the artificial grass play area, a tarmac area can be seen with thermoplastic markings.

Variety of Playground Equipment

Offering all types of play is key for a playground to be both successful and beneficial. Feniscowles primary school clearly knew how important this factor was and decided to invest in a wide variety of different pieces of playground equipment.

Helping with physical development and promoting active play, the Pinnacle Hill Climber is a great piece of play equipment to introduce your EYFS class to climbing frames. Watch as your children work either together or independently to conquer this brilliant challenge, all whilst they are improving their gross and fine motor skills.

A child is playing on the Pinnacle Hill Climber as they hold on to the rope. They are balancing their way across the beam. Artificial grass surfacing surrounds the play equipment.

If you're looking to encourage your children to engage in outdoor messy play, then the Head Chef Mud Kitchen package is the perfect bundle of play equipment for you. Feniscowles were amazed by how engrossed the children became whilst playing with the mud kitchen. From re-enacting real world scenarios to creating delicious mud pies, this piece of play equipment makes a fantastic addition to any play area.

It's important that a playground can provide some practical equipment which will allow children to rest and partake in more mental tasks. Due to this, the school wanted to incorporate our Freestanding Storytelling Chair and Small Moveable Artificial Grass - Topped Seats. Perfect for establishing a calm and relaxing environment, these pieces of play equipment can help children escape into the world of books or engage in pretend play, the choices are endless.

A freestanding storytelling chair has been placed against the back of the freestanding canopy. A child sits in the chair as three other children sit on the movable seating blocks, as they listen to the story being read to them.

Encouraging constructive play and promoting problem solving, Pentagon Play's Play Builder Engineer Set has become a firm favourite amongst schools. Feniscowles recognised the benefits this set provided but wanted to add the Role Play Additions. Constructed from Accoya wood, this piece of play equipment is extremely durable and perfect for any playground.

This may sound like a lot of improvements, but this school wanted to go above and beyond and offer even more for their children. They also added:

A far away photo showing all of the play equipment on the playground, including the surfacing options that were selected. A large group of children can be seen playing on it and enjoying themselves.

The Results

After a few months passed, we were delighted to be invited back to Feniscowles Primary School to see how our play equipment had impacted the school. Instantly, we were greeted by smiles and cheers as we saw children exploring this impressive play area and having fun.

Speaking to some teachers, we were amazed to hear the positive impact the play equipment had on the students. Children were starting to engage more in active play and improving their physical health whilst advancing their cognitive skills.

A little girl is running towards the camera and carrying some water play equipment, as she smiles and cheers. The teacher and other children are having a fun time learning about water.

From everyone here at Pentagon Play, we hope that Feniscowles enjoys their outstanding playground for years to come and continue to develop children into 'Feniscowles children'!



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