Playground Equipment Makeover for All Saints Primary School
It's exciting, challenging but most of all safe and the pupils of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Coventry, are making the most of their newly refurbished outdoor playground.
The much-needed face-lift to the children's free-time was completed by Playforce, the premier provider of playground equipment for schools, and has satisfied staff at the school as well as students.
All Saints head teacher, Diane Spring, said she had reservations about installing playground equipment mainly due to health and safety issues.
But the children were adamant they needed new outdoor play equipment to satisfy and challenge their energies so Mrs Spring consulted health and safety experts and, following a recommendation from a colleague, called in Playforce to see if a solution could be found.
Playforce prides itself on creating timber trails and obstacles to challenge children physically, socially and mentally.
Playforce came highly recommended and have lived up to their reputation," said Mrs Spring. "I made it clear that safety was a priority and the sales consultant designed an excellent low-level timber trail and other obstacles."
It took three years to raise the money for the improvements, but the whole school agrees it was worth the wait.
Now the children have a tyre-twister, particularly great for cross-lateral development essential for football skills; a wobbly walkway with rubber step posts, useful for role-play and hand-eye co-ordination; swinging logs with rubber posts, for role play and confidence building; and a climbing wall for balance, co-ordination and role play. All the playground equipment is set into an olive-green all-weather surface.
The school also stretched the budget to include an outdoor classroom that Mrs Spring says plays so many other roles including an area for parents to wait for the end of school, a story-time shelter, a quiet place for break times and of course an area to teach al fresco.
Mrs Spring said that from planning to installation the outdoor playground makeover had run smoothly and efficiently.
