St John’s Catholic Primary School

What were the reasons for developing your outdoor space?

To the back end of the existing playground was an unused space that was fenced off from the main area. With many schools space is at a premium, by removing the existing fencing the previous neglected area would be opened up to increase the overall size of the playground for the children. 

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

Having been approached at the start of 2012 the school where keen to add some Adventure Trail equipment to encourage active and physical play with the school environment. The first task was to remove the existing timber fencing which currently kept the area separate from the existing playground. A small section of fencing was relocated to one end to block access to the car park making the whole area safe and secure. Low and high level units were installed offering different challenges for the children varying in difficulty. The existing tree was incorporated into the design and the installation team ensured a safe distance was kept around the new equipment. To ensure the new area became part of the existing playground we added our Soft Mulch surfacing to make this a brilliant all weather play area. Using our natural blend mix the surfacing fitted in perfectly with the natural environment. 

How the children will benefit from the new play area:

What was previously an unused area of the playground has now been transformed into a brilliant all weather Adventure Trail area to help combat childhood obesity. With a mix of Adventure Trail units the children can start with the low level units and work their way up to the high level units at the end of the trail. Each individual unit helps children improve balancing, traversing, stretching and climbing in order to help develop co-ordination, confidence, upper and lower body strength, as well as strengthening their core stability.