Eco-friendly School Chooses Eco-friendly Playground Equipment at Kehelland Village School

Being green is an important part of life at Kehelland Village School, so much so that when it
came to choosing new playground equipment sustainability was a deciding factor.

The school on the outskirts of Camborne in Cornwall believes in being environmentally friendly and wanted to buy a timber trail from Playforce - a company that has sustainability at its heart.

The pupils are now delighted that, as they climb, balance, stretch and swing their way through a series of obstacles, they are using recycled rubber and timber from Forestry Stewardship Certificated trees ffrom sustainable forests.

Head teacher at Kehelland, Karen Brooker, explained that the school tries hard to be an eco-school and was very pleased that Playforce shared their enthusiasm, not just using sustainable materials to build the outdoor playground equipment but re-using or recycling all packaging and waste and sometimes even re-homing playground equipment they are replacing, if it is still safe to use.

"We spent a long time fundraising so we wanted to get it right and it appears we have," explained Mrs Brooker.

"We were very impressed with all the special measures Playforce employ and equally impressed with the playground equipment. It's fantastic and the children love it. We knew it would be popular at first but the novelty has not worn off and even though we are a small school we have to run a rota to make sure there aren't too many children using it at once."

Mrs Brooker explained that the school wanted new outdoor playground equipment to create a fun stimulating environment that could exercise not just the children’s bodies but also their minds, as well as developing important social skills like sharing and self-respect.

In addition to the obvious physical benefits Mrs Brooker said she has noticed the children developing a range of new skills - including vivid imaginations.

"Sometimes we pretend it's a jungle or safari park,” said Eden, 9. “I like to believe that the climbing wall is really a big hill, it is green after all," said Chloe, 5. "I go to a gymnastics club and find the bars really useful for extra practice," said Amy, 8. "The top of the scramble net is like a crow's nest, you can see everything from up here, I never want to get off it," said Amy, 11.

Kehelland School doesn’t have any PE equipment so the timber trail is used for gym lesson too - another huge bonus according to Robert Roskilly, the school’s PE teacher.