Harrow Lodge Primary School

“Very happy with our overall experience working with EPE. Loved how they took our ideas and came up with something affordable that matched the brief. The big posters were great as they allowed the children to view the designs. Two options were proposed that we could choose from and show the children.”

L. Searle – Head Teacher

What were the reasons for developing your outdoor space?

The current playground was effectively a blank canvas with little equipment to help encourage physical development.

How we transformed the play area to provide outdoor learning opportunities for the children:

Following on from our initial consultation with the school our design team began to work their magic. A couple of different designs were put together and these were then shown to the children who had a vote on their preferred equipment.

Involving the children in the design process works as a great way to help them understand the process from start to finish. Having been involved from start to finish this also helps give them a real sense of pride in the equipment.

Following on from the voting process, we then got to work to create a stunning vibrant area which will help encourage physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.

Our Play Frame 7 offers an incredible amount of activity with a total of 16 different units which will help develop children’s physical skills. A mixture of both low level and high level units caters for children of all abilities and different ages.

The Forest Climber 2 replicates a natural, challenging and enjoyable climbing environment. The unit brings a modern feel to the play area. Consisting of a scattered log design with a base net and hand ropes, the children have many different levels of balancing and climbing challenges to test their abilities.

To compliment the above equipment, we installed a multi-coloured Wet Pour surface. The design was a Land and Sea theme including stepping stones to gain access to the equipment. This helped transform the dull tarmac surfacing into a bright, colourful and inviting vibrant area.

How the children will benefit from the new play area:

There are now so many ways for the children to improve their health and fitness by choosing how they want to use the new Play Frame or Forest Climber. They’ll be able to develop upper and lower body strength, coordination and better fitness through balancing, climbing, traversing, swinging, stepping, jumping, rolling and pull ups.

• Encourage physical activity and a healthy lifestyle
• Help to reduce childhood obesity
• Develop upper and lower body strength
• Replicate a challenging climbing environment