St. Peter’s C of E Primary School, Greater Manchester
What did the school want to achieve?
Right from our initial conversation with Aelred (Headteacher), it was clear he had a great vision for what he wanted to achieve. He wanted to create a fun and education playground for the pupils whilst also encouraging the children to remain active.
His budget was healthy and he really wanted a playground which had a ‘’wow’’ factor. Aelred had a real passion for making a difference to the children’s lives and the way they learn at school.
He wanted the installation completed in two different phases to tie in with some other surfacing works they were having completed. Phase one was a playground which was predominately for sports and other markings to keep the children keep active. Phase two was a separate area which was where they wanted a mix of fun games to create some structure to playtimes and education markings to allow them to bring the classroom outdoors.
How did we help them achieve their desired outcome? Were there any problems, and how did we overcome them?
The opportunity of working at St Peter’s CE Primary School was great and something the whole team were keen to get stuck in to. The school had a lovely blank canvas which was recently tarmacked ready for their new playground markings. Our aim was to provide them with the games they wanted but also make sure the playground was as vibrant and effective as possible given the space that was provided.
We worked closely with the school to make sure the plan provided a good selection of games to cover their 3 main requirements – fun, educational and active. We discussed in depth the most popular games for each of these categories whilst also looking at what would fit best within their available space and budget.
A couple of the highlights for the fun games were the 4-Way Twin Hopscotch, a Mirror Me and a revamp of the classic “Mr Wolf”. None of these games need teacher supervision and are all reasonably quick and easy to play. This means they are great for a both lunchtimes and short 15-minute breaks.
The school really embraced outdoor learning and there was a good selection of markings in this category including a 0-20 Snake to an a-z Snail. One of the highlights of this job was getting to install one of our new Elephant Phonics, because an elephant never forgets! Our phonics games are used in many different ways by teachers, but getting the children to all stand on a sound and have to come up with a word using that phonic is always fun.
Lastly, we looked at sports and active markings. To make the courts multipurpose we created a multi-court using different coloured lines to allow one court to be used for both Football and Netball. The stand out item in this category was the Active Trail. These have become so popular over the last few years and are a great way to keep children active during playtime but also provide good structure for PE lessons. All our active trails were designed by sports coaches so are a great way to help children keep fit.
For some of the younger children we installed a roadway which they could use their bikes and trikes on. This incorporated engaging imagery including road signs and zebra crossings which helps the children understand basic road safety.
Our comments on the finished playground
New tarmac always make the new markings “pop” and this project was no exception. It was lovely that the school had a good idea on what they wanted and the finished project really ticked all the boxes. It was a fun project to design and has transformed a blank playground into a fun, educational space which definitely has the “wow” factor.
Testimonial from the school
‘’Fun & Active Playgrounds have just put markings in on our main playground and EYFS playground and they look great, we are delighted. From the planning phase to the installation they were professional and very helpful. I would highly recommend this company.’’
– A. Whelan, Headteacher
