Playforce the UK's Provider of Playground Eqiupment Industry Professional Comment
For many schools making the most of their outside space is at the bottom of a long list of things to do.
However encouraging exercise through play could well be fundamental in helping to solve the problem of obesity in our children.
To find out more Education Today talked to Claire Toogood, Sales Manager of school playground equipment specialists Playforce.
Q. How and why do you feel play is so important for children at primary school?
A. It is a well known fact that children learn through play both inside and out. Playforce specialises on supplying playground equipment that enables children to learn through play outside.
Play is very important in developing physical skills and upper body strength. I have often heard head teachers say that if children have a good level outside then this translates into finer skills like writing.
Playforce outdoor playground equipment is designed specifically to spark children’s imagination encouraging children to make maximum use of it of their own volition.
Q. In your role as the head of Playforce’s school grounds consultants, what service do you offer schools and how do school’s needs differ?
A. The service Playforce offers revolves around listening, listening and asking questions to find out what schools are trying to achieve.
Normally the enquiry is about a specific piece of playground equipment such as a timber trailor outdoor classroom however once at the site has been visited by our school grounds consultant it is often necessary to take a school back a few steps and look at the outside space as a whole to create a longer term approach offering maximum flexibility.
Our consultants visit thousands of schools every year and therefore have huge experience of how to make the maximum use out of outside space. For example, many schools will request a timber trail to be placed on a tarmaced area to reduce the amount of mud brought into schools. However a much more flexible solution is to place the trail onto a grassy area surrounded by a weatherproof surface leaving the tarmac available for games such as netball and group activities.
We pride ourselves on working with schools with all sizes of budgets and listening to what our customers are saying. In fact over the years the majority of our product development has come from schools requesting ideas that have to be fulfilled through our bespoke service.
Unlike many companies we have full time product designers and on average 2 or 3 customers each week have something bespoke. In this way schools can have something very special and unique to them.
Q. How does Playforce playground equipment differ to other playground equipment?
A. The main difference is that Playforce only specialise in education. Many companies supply council’s and then also have an education range.
The company was started eight years ago by the current Managing Director, Edward Webb, installing completely bespoke outdoor playground products into schools. Even now 63 percent of business still comes from customer referrals.
Q. In your opinion what is the most important element to consider when designing an outdoor playground to maximise the amount of time children play on it?
A. In a word, variety. Some girls at the age of 10/11 for example are not as physically active as boys and would prefer to sit down and chat. Zoning areas is therefore key to enable many activities to take place in one space.
Ideas that seem to work well are areas with a decking platform that can be used as a stage with a box of dressing up clothes, an area for skipping ropes and general activity, a timber trail for more physical activity and an area for football and more dominating games. This type of zoning seems to enable children of varying interests and physical fitness’s to participate in a variety of activities in one space.
Practicality is also important, areas under shade and all weather covered areas help guarantee that children spend as long as possible outside. Also areas that can be used as part of lessons like stages again maximise the use of space and more and more schools are looking to develop outside spaces to include environmental ponds that can be studied and monitored in lessons.
Q. Safety is obviously a massive issue, how does Playforce take this into consideration?
A. All of our equipment conforms to BSEN 116-7 and safety is crucial to Playforce as a company in general. Jonathan Peters the Operations Manager is a registered playground inspector and pursued this as a career prior to joining the company. All our staff from administration to accountants receives external training in safety standards on joining the company.
Q. The Government is focussing heavily on sport and diet; do you feel that more emphasis should be placed on play?
Yes definitely, most of Playforces’ playground equipment is designed to stimulate activity without the input form a teacher. So often it is a struggle to get children to play sport and even then sessions are limited, play offers the opportunity for children to do additional exercise every day without even realising it!
