The Customer
Located in the heart of Marlow, Marlow Church of England Infant School delivers a fantastic level of education for children located in the local area. From it's strong Christian and School values to its engagement with the widespread community, this primary school has garnered a brilliant reputation amongst parents and local community members alike.
With over 160 students attending this school, Mrs Sharon Reynolds and her amazing team have managed to create an inclusive school environment that helps all children develop and gain the knowledge they need to succeed in life. During an Ofsted inspection, it was even noted how the school encourages children to aim high, helping the school deliver "exceptional learning in early years and in reading, writing and mathematics".
Wanting to maintain the positive school environment that this infant school has created, Mrs Reynolds and her team decided to review all of the facilities that are offered by the school. During this review, the school staff had a few ideas of how the school could go above and beyond and establish itself as one of the best infant schools in all of Derbyshire.
Meeting the Customer
Sarah McKevitt, the bursar at Marlow CE Infant School, was looking online for a reputable company that could construct an outdoor classroom that met the school's specifications. During this search, she quickly came across Pentagon Play and saw the plethora of 5 star reviews left by other infant schools and primary schools across the nation.
Amazed, Sarah decided to visit the website and browse our unique and innovative outdoor classroom range, showcasing some of the industry's leading outdoor classroom designs. After viewing the entire range, she felt confident that Pentagon Play was the perfect company to work with on this project.
Wanting more information about the range, Sarah contacted us via our submission form and was keen to talk to one of our friendly and knowledgeable advisors. Mark Slatter, one of our Outdoor Learning Consultants, was quick to establish contact with Sarah and talk her through how Pentagon's Outdoor Classrooms were the perfect addition to her school's playground.
Impressed with the speedy responses and the in-depth information demonstrated by Mark, Sarah felt confident in asking for more advice on how the school could improve their playground and make it more engaging. Mark instantly recommended the Trim Trail range we offer, renowned for it's engaging design and actively challenging obstacles.
With all of this information, Sarah was happy for Mark to organise a free site visit and consultation for the school. These site visits and consultations not only provide Pentagon Play with a better understanding of the area wanting to be improved, but they also provide the unique opportunity for customers like Sarah to share their vision directly with us and have equal input into the project.
Their Objectives
Throughout the consultation and site visit, Sarah made it clear that the school wanted a durable and weather-resistant outdoor classroom. This outdoor classroom would provide children with the opportunity to learn outdoors and reap the benefits associated with this method of teaching.
Whilst looking at the surfacing of the area where the school wanted the outdoor classroom to be constructed, Sarah said that the school also wanted a surface to be laid beneath it that would add to the visual appeal of the outdoor classroom, whilst providing a space for safe outdoor play.
Finally, the school also wanted their pre-existing trim trail to be replaced with a brand new one, helping to keep the playground environment fresh and exciting. In addition, the school wanted the trim trail to provide a variety of physical challenges to help children develop physical skills and a positive attitude towards exercise.
Our Approach
Once all of this information was gathered, Mark quickly returned back to our Bristol office to liaise with the relevant departments involved in this project to get things moving as quickly as possible. Throughout the entire process, Sarah was kept up-to-date with any progress or developments regarding the project, helping the school understand the entire scope of the project.
Even though most companies would stop here, Pentagon Play has always made an effort to go the extra mile by providing our customers with an unforgettable journey. Our in-house visualisation team got to work with creating a variety of realistic 3D bespoke graphics and images to showcase how the finished project would look at the school. Like most of our customers, Sarah and her team were blown away by the images as it helped them understand the impact the outdoor classroom and trim trail would have on the school and made them feel confident with their choices.
Whilst Sarah was receiving constant support from Mark, our expert manufacturing team got to work on sourcing the highest-quality materials for the job. Whether it's our outstanding quality assurance checks or the high tech cutting equipment we use, there's a reason as to why our manufacturing process is a benchmark within our industry.
Operating for over 25 years within the playground equipment industry, Pentagon Play have established ourselves as the one-stop shop for nurseries, schools and commercial settings across England, Wales and Scotland. From our amazing aftercare support to our RoSPA recognised playground inspections and maintenance service, you can get everything you need to create a safe and engaging play area with Pentagon Play.
Playturf Surfacing
Wanting a surface type that would add a sense of nature to the area, as well as complimenting the natural look of their outdoor classroom and trim trail, the school ended up selecting one of our most popular surfacing options for playgrounds across the nation, Pentagon's Playturf Artificial Grass.
Not only does our Playturf add a sense of vibrance and life to your area through it's realistic look of natural grass, but we can also install our state of the art Play Basework underneath. This basework stops weeds from ruining your spectacular surface and helps the area stay safe by effectively draining water.
Considering this surfacing was being placed beneath the outdoor classroom, the school loved how effective the Play Basework would be at maintaining the beauty of the classroom and reducing the chances of any serious slips or bumps occurring on the area.
Passing FIFA's rigorous durability tests, our Playturf surfacing is built to withstand heavy foot traffic and poor weather conditions. As the area was aiming to be used all year round by multiple different classes, the school felt that the durability offered by this surfacing was second to none.
Bespoke Outdoor Classroom
As the school had specific dimensions to work with, they decided to settle for a Bespoke Timber Canopy. Our bespoke service allows schools, like Marlow CE Infant School, to have an outdoor classroom that suits them perfectly without having to sacrifice necessary space.
All of our outdoor classroom structures are built to meet building regulations, helping you get the planning permission you need to execute an exciting project like this. Helping hundreds of schools create their perfect outdoor learning environments, we've never left a school unhappy with our products.
Built from high pressure treated, tanalised timber (that has been planed and chamfered) and other high-quality materials, our outdoor classrooms are built to withstand poor weather conditions and years of constant use. The school loved this as they wanted a cost-effective solution for their outdoor learning needs.
In addition, outdoor classrooms designed by Pentagon Play come with an innovative water drainage system, meaning your outdoor classroom will last even longer than most other similar products on the market.
As this was a bespoke project, we worked closely with the school to understand their vision and help them bring it to life. Adding two single access gates, built-in shelving and enclosing the area with cladded panels, this outdoor classroom was exactly what the school needed. Not only would teaching staff find it easy to access the area and retrieve certain learning resources, but children could learn in a safe and exciting environment.
Bespoke Trim Trail
After our team had removed the pre-existing trim trail for this school's playground, we quickly started to install their bespoke trim trail. Featuring 5 exciting physical challenges, this bespoke trim trail was designed by the customer to help children develop their physical skills and overall development.
Created from high pressure treated 'play grade' timber and steel reinforced nylon ropes, the equipment included in this trim trail has been constructed to last for years. Having durable equipment means a lot to schools like Marlow Infant, as it means they don't have to worry about replacing the equipment after a few months (making it a great investment)!
Our Trim Trail range offers customers over 45 unique challenges to choose from and can suit any budget. Whether you want to increase your children's climbing confidence by introducing a Climbing Wall or help children with their balancing skills with our Balance Clatter Bridge, trim trails can be completely unique to your school.
After reviewing all of the options available to them, the school settled on 5 unique challenges that were sure to keep children engaged. These included:
- Stepping Logs (Set of 5)
- Disc Poles (Set of 4)
- Log Balance Weaver with Horizontal Beam
- Forest Climbing Poles (set of 4)
- Swinging Log Bridge with Rope Handrails
Not only will this trim trail provide children with an exciting and active adventure, but it will also be helping children develop a wide variety of different physical skills and attributes. The school really enjoyed creating their own bespoke trim trail as they felt it added a sense of identity to their playground and made them stand out from the rest.
The Results
Once a few months had passed by, we reached out to Marlow CE Infant School and asked if a small team from Pentagon could visit the school and see the impact our project had made to the environment. After getting the greenlight, our team made their way back to the school to meet up with Sarah and the team.
As we arrived at reception, the staff at Marlow Infant School warmly welcomed us and gave us a quick tour around the school. Throughout this tour, the staff mentioned how our project had a positive impact on the school environment, with children always wanting to learn outdoors or go on an adventure on the bespoke trim trail.
Instantly, we saw a group of children playing in the outdoor classroom and engaging in a fun and creative lesson with their teacher. The teacher told us how learning outdoors had improved the attention span of their pupils and brought more energy to lessons, allowing subjects to be taught more effectively.
Walking across the artificial grass surfacing, we laid our eyes on the bespoke trim trail. Seeing a group of children tackling the challenges, we were over the moon to see how popular it was amongst the students.
Members of staff told us how the new trim trail had become the key piece of playground equipment at playtime and children were using their imaginations to escape into new worlds to make active play sessions even more fun.
We wish the absolute best to Marlow Church of England Infant School and hope that they continue to inspire future generations of children!
