The Customer
Nestled in the heart West Yorkshire, the fantastic Old Bank Academy helps students around the Mirfield area receive an amazing education within a learning environment that prides itself for being inclusive and engaging. Led by the fantastic Mr Brooks, the headteacher, and his staff, Old Bank Academy has earned a brilliant reputation within the Mirfield community.
Educating over 100 students, this school provides an unmatched level of education and attention for their pupils. The school earned it's academy status in April 2020, when Old Bank Junior, Infant and Nursery school was brought in by the Impact Education Multi Academy Trust. Since then, the school has wowed Ofsted inspectors with the amount of innovative and unique changes made.
Since becoming an academy, the school have created the "GROW" vision. Aiming to help children experience growth, respect, opportunity and wellbeing, the school are constantly looking for new ways to help children achieve all four stages. From this desire, the school started to focus on it's outdoor provisions.
Meeting The Customer
Phil Horsfall, the Operations Director for Impact Education MAT, first contacted us back in 2022 to discuss potential plans of renovating Old Bank Academy's playground. During this first contact, Phil explained how he came across our website whilst searching for a playground expert and was impressed by the creativity and quality our play equipment showcased.
After reading about our 25 year history within the industry, Phil decided to enquire with Pentagon Play to see how we could improve their playground. Throughout the years, we kept in contact with Phil and Impact Education MAT to discuss a variety of different ideas and topics.
Once the board of directors approved the idea and the local authority was happy with the proposed plan, Phil decided to make everything official by confirming everything was in place for the project to begin. Knowing this, we sent our Playground Consultant, Daniel Young, to the school to discuss the plans in more detail.
Their Objectives
During the meeting with Daniel, Phil explained how the new project was aiming to encourage children to be more active and improve their physical health. The school needed equipment that would naturally encourage physical development whilst being engaging and exciting for the children.
Alongside the active play equipment, the school wanted pieces of play equipment which naturally promote a variety of other play types, like musical play and role play. Having a playground offering so many types of play creates a more inclusive environment.
Finally, the school's current safety surface was showing signs of wear and tear, indicating that the surface was becoming unsafe. Knowing that safety was a huge factor, the school was open to exploring new safety surfacing options.
Our Approach
With over 25 years of experience in the playground equipment industry, Pentagon Play has established itself as a leader in the field. The team has transformed over 15,000 unique locations, making them more engaging and fun for children.
What's the secret to this success? Pentagon Play has perfected a customer journey that stands out in the industry. Each client is treated as part of the Pentagon Play family, and we strive to deliver exceptional service, ensuring you'll return to us time and time again. From our friendly Outdoor Learning Consultants to our creative products team, we guarantee a stress-free experience from start to finish.
Surfacing
The first stage of the project was to focus on resurfacing the playground with a new surfacing type. Stuck between two choices, it was decided that we would install both of the surfacing options by seamlessly integrating their designs together.
Around all of the new play equipment, the school decided to select one of our most popular surfacing options, Playturf. Crafted from the highest-quality tufted monofilament yarn, Playturf is an incredibly durable and long lasting surfacing type which is perfect in any play area.
Known for it's amazing looks, Old Bank Academy wanted a four colour artificial turf with a middle of brown. By selecting this choice, the school could transform their play area in to an area where children can escape the tarmac and concrete jungles and enter new natural and organic-looking worlds.
One factor that the academy trust loved about Playturf was how weather-resistant the surfacing was. Built with the British weather in mind, Playturf can drain rain water really well, avoid any puddles or water damage from occurring. If the sun decides to visit, Playturf is UV stable, meaning Old Bank Academy wouldn't have to worry about replacing or maintaining their surface for years to come.
Selected as the second surfacing to install on this playground, Old Bank Academy decided to go for a surface that is famous for it's bespoke options, Wetpour. Using EPDM rubber granules and resin to bond this surface together, wet pour is a porous and free-draining surface. Old Bank loved how both of their surfacing options were weather resistant and could withstand the unpredictable British weather.
Being the perfect surface for meeting the Critical Fall Height of play equipment, wet pour provides protection from falls with it's impact absorbing properties and soft feel. As Old Bank Academy are a primary school, they knew that this surface would minimise the severity of any trips and falls from their pupils.
Physical Area
It was incredibly important for the school that the physical area provided children with play equipment that physically challenged them, whilst naturally keeping them engaged with being active and healthy. Knowing this, it was agreed that the physical area would contain two of our most impressive physical challenges.
Known for being one of our best non-prescriptive active challenges and designed to be open-ended and exciting for children, the Tryfan Climber makes an instant impact on any playground it's installed on. Old Bank loved the look of this magnificent piece of play equipment and were excited to introduce it to their children.
Manufactured with high pressure treated 'play grade' timber and steel reinforced nylon ropes, the Tryfan Climber has been designed to be durable and long lasting. Withstanding heavy usage and general wear and tear, the school felt confident investing in this climbing frame, knowing that future generations would enjoy it.
Naturally encouraging children to communicate, work in teams and solve problems, this piece of active play equipment assists children's development in a variety of different aspects. Even though the school wanted to focus on physical development, it was a welcomed feature for the children.
Installed alongside the Tryfan Climber was another huge piece of play equipment, one which offered a variety of unique and exciting challenges for children to tackle and conquer. Designed to raise a child's enthusiasm and excitement levels, the Puzzlewood Forest Circuit was the perfect piece of play equipment for the physical area.
Measuring a whopping 17m² in area and offering 7 exciting challenges, the Puzzlewood Forest Circuit is the perfect play equipment for playgrounds looking for a statement piece to gain the attention of children. As the Old Bank Academy playground lacked something like this, they were excited to see what impact a big piece of play equipment would have.
Each of the 7 challenges aim to help children with their physical development by targeting different areas. From improving gross motor skills to focusing on developing muscles, this piece of play equipment is perfect for primary schools that are looking to help children prepare for further education.
Old Bank Academy were amazed by these magnificent pieces of play equipment and were excited to see how many more children would start engaging with active play with the introduction of it.
Other Exciting Products
Developing a physical area wasn't the only focus for Old Bank Academy, as they wanted to also introduce children to a variety of other play methods. Not only do these other play methods present opportunities of growth in other vital areas, but they also create an inclusive environment for the whole school to enjoy.
With a total of 18 unique pieces of play equipment brought to the playground, the school aimed to encourage the following play methods with these pieces of play equipment:
- Musical play
- Constructive play
- Creative play
- Water play
- Sensory play
Old Bank Academy loved how Pentagon Play offered such a wide variety of playground equipment as they could do all of their shopping in one spot. In addition, the play equipment designed by us has had the input of educational experts to make sure that it's as beneficial as possible.
In addition to the exciting play equipment, the school also acquired a fantastic outdoor storage solution that helps schools across the UK store their resources in a safe and secure manner, the Medium Shelf-Selecting Store.
To provide a sheltered space on their playground, the school were also interested in having a 3.5M Hexagonal Gazebo with Fence Panels and Bubble Windows. This unique gazebo provides a fantastic space for children to relax and engage in quiet play.
Having so many new and exciting products present on their playground displays the strong desire of creating an engaging and exciting area that Old Bank Academy has for helping it's students develop and grow.
The Results
After a few months had passed, Old Bank Academy invited us back to the school to have a look around the playground and see the amazing impact our equipment had on the school. Eagerly, we accepted the invitation and made our way back to West Yorkshire.
Straight away, we saw a lot more children actively engaging with the playground and it's equipment, taking part in a variety of different types of play. As we spoke to each child, we found out very quickly how popular the new play equipment was and how the new surfacing added a sense of excitement and life to the playground.
When we spoke to the teachers, we were pleased to hear their positive thoughts on the latest changes. The gazebo provided a fantastic space for teaching assistants to speak to children in a 1-on-1 setting. The Acorn Storage Unit was a fantastic storage solution for keep outdoor resources safe and secure.
Overall, it's safe to say that Old Bank Academy loved their new upgraded playground and noticed a lot of positive impacts from the project. We wish the absolute best to this fantastic school and hope your new playground equipment continues to bring joy for years to come.
