Mountfields Lodge Primary School

What were the reasons for developing your outdoor space?
Having applied for a new surfacing and groundworks grant the school worked hard to secure it. Many forms had to be filled out and different options given to the providers. We helped support them
throughout the process and when the grant was approved, just before the summer holidays, naturally everyone wanted to celebrate. Using the new income for the surfacing and groundworks and money
the school had raised for equipment a brand new play area was planned.

How we transformed the play area to provide outdoor learning opportunities for the children:
Imaginative and Creative elements were the main focus for the new play area as the children already had many options in the playground to keep them active. We looked at engaging the children’s
minds and creative ability in one place whilst giving them plenty of opportunity to have fun in a social environment. Our new Fun house and Pirate Ship units were included so the children could
instantly immerse themselves in a range of activities from drawing, playing noughts and crosses to driving a car or navigating a ship around the world. A musical zone was incorporated which includes Tubano Drums, Eye Chimes and a Glockenspiel Panel. Finally for all the budding Einstein’s out there the new Scientific Weather Station was added so the children can perform curriculum based experiments with the weather conditions and record their results

How the children will benefit from the new play area:
Every feature on the Fun House and Pirate Ship has been specifically chosen to help encourage Imaginative, Creative, Dramatic and Role Play. Sheltered seating on the units provides a meeting
point for the children helping to improve social interaction. The musical zone will present an area where the children can explore different media to bring their abstract ideas to life helping to develop creativity. Being able to perform experiments outside on the Scientific Weather Station could be linked to the science curriculum encouraging active learning outside of the classroom for all the children.