An Outdoor Playground Comes to the Rescue of Castle View School

Pupils at Castle View School, Matlock, now have an exciting new outdoor playground
thanks to Playforce, Britain’s premier provider  playground equipment for schools.

Until a few weeks ago, playtime meant hanging around on an empty expanse of tarmac for the children at this Derbyshire school, but now they have a whole array of obstacles and playground equipment to stretch their minds and bodies.

There are three timber trails suitable for all ages and a separate climbing tower for the pupils in the nursery and early year foundation classes.

The money to pay for the childrens play equipment was raised by the school's Parent Teachers Association and has been welcomed with open arms and smiling faces by the delighted children and staff at the school.

"Playforce has created an extensive development, involving provision of outdoor play equipment for all key stages," said the school's head teacher, Peter Hooper.

"The whole process ran smoothly, from design through to the final build and we are really happy with the final outcome. The children are having a fantastic time playing with their new playground equipment. We have also been very happy with the aftercare and have had no hesitation in returning to Playforce to provide the next phase of our outdoor play equipment and the nursery children can't wait until it is installed."

Playforce sales consultant, Sam Flatman, who was responsible for creating this adventure play equipment area for the children, explained that the thinking behind the outdoor playground equipment goes far beyond the fun of playing.

"At Playforce we believe that it is extremely important to exercise and develop the body through play - but equally important to have the same effect on the mind," said Sam. "We pride ourselves on the ability to design outdoor play equipment areas that stimulate children's imaginations at the same time as stretching their muscles. The children create their own games and magical worlds using the Playforce timber trail obstacles as props and scenery."

This first phase of the school's playground equipment development includes rubber posts for balancing, swinging logs for upper body strength, dual balancing beams, a wobbly walkway for co-ordination skills, a rock 'n' roll log to help balance and a climbing wall.

The separate climbing play tower includes a climbing wall, a fireman's pole, a chalk board, a drawing window and a tower side panel.