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Using Your Playground As Evidence For Ofsted Inspections In 2026

From November 2025, Ofsted inspections aim to answer a simple question: what do leaders’ decisions mean for pupils’ day-to-day experience?

Inspectors build a “clear and typical picture of all aspects of the school’s work” by looking at how pupils achieve, belong and thrive in all areas of school life.

In this blog, we look at why playgrounds matter under the updated framework and how to use your outdoor provision as impactful evidence during your inspection.

Jump ahead to:

Why playgrounds matter for Ofsted in 2026

How to use your playground as evidence for Ofsted evaluation areas

Gather simple evidence from your playground

How Fawns help schools design playgrounds that naturally generate evidence

Why playgrounds matter for Ofsted in 2026

Under Ofsted’s new framework and toolkits, inspectors are required to understand each school in its own context. Focusing on the impact of leaders’ decisions on pupils’ experiences and outcomes.

The inspection toolkit asks inspectors to consider the extent to which pupils:

• Achieve in terms of academic progress, social development and wider personal growth.
• Belong to the school community so that they attend, behave and build positive relationships.
• Thrive because adults understand them as individuals, and systems keep them safe and supported.

All three of these are heavily influenced by what happens outdoors. Your school playground is where pupils develop social skills, practise independence, and experience the culture you, as leaders, have created in a very visible way.

Inspectors are interested in how you use and design your playground because it helps them see: 

• Whether you’re meeting requirements for suitable outdoor space across EYFS, primary and secondary.
• How school-led before and after-school clubs add value for pupils. Rather than simply holding them until the official start of the school day.
• What you’re doing to boost physical activity levels and support mental health and wellbeing.
• How you’re meeting curriculum expectations for PE and physical development. From early years through to the end of secondary.
• What your strategic decisions and use of funding (including pupil premium and EYPP spending) mean for the pupils in their case sample.

How to use your playground as evidence for Ofsted evaluation areas

Outdoor play does a lot of heavy lifting in most schools. It naturally supports regulation, social skill development, and gives opportunities to apply communication and language skills. The benefits of outdoor play aren’t always talked about using these terms.

Choosing your playground design with purpose helps pupils at all educational levels. From meeting EYFS framework requirements to ensuring all pupils receive high-quality PE provision throughout key stage 4.

If all your school team know how you use your playground intentionally, they can confidently share with inspectors how it supports your curriculum, inclusion, and wider priorities.

How your playground supports your curriculum intent

In countries where play is taken seriously, as in many schools in Norway, outdoor play comes first, with formal lessons on top.

The principle is simple: rich, varied play doesn’t “reward” learning, it builds the foundations that make learning possible.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it gives some great ideas of how your playground can evidence impactful curriculum choices during your Ofsted visit:

• Physical development is planned from EYFS to the end of Key Stage 4. With outdoor spaces used to rehearse and apply fundamental movement skills beyond PE lessons.
• PE lessons make deliberate use of MUGAs, courts, pitches, trim trails or health trek trails so pupils can experience team sport, fitness and skill development in appropriate spaces.
• Communication and language are supported outdoors through role-play, cooperative games, and problem-solving. Giving pupils frequent chances to hear, practise, and extend vocabulary, especially where intake language levels are low.
• Personal, social and emotional development is threaded through outdoor activity, supporting mental health, emotional regulation and social development as pupils tackle and succeed with physical and social challenges.
• Problem-solving and collaboration are built into outdoor play, with pupils expected to plan, negotiate rules, share resources, and take turns in ways that mirror the thinking skills needed in lessons.
• Cross-curricular and outdoor learning links are planned, using shelters, stages, trails, and activity panels to revisit and apply core subject knowledge through play and practical tasks.

How your playground supports behaviour, attitudes and attendance

Under the new framework, attendance and behaviour sit together as a single evaluation area. With inspectors looking at the school environment and pupils’ behaviour, attitudes and attendance as a joined-up picture.

Your outdoor space, including breakfast and after-school provision, is a big part of that lived experience.

Here are some valuable ways your playground can evidence a strong behaviour and attendance culture:

•  Outdoor areas are set up to support calm, structured routines at break, lunch and transition times, so the expectations you promote in classrooms are mirrored outside.
• Clear zoning, visible adults and simple rules reduce incident hotspots.
• Breakfast and after-school clubs make purposeful use of outdoor space for valuable activities and active play equipment rather than just holding pupils until the official start of the day.
• Pupils who previously struggled during social times now have predictable, structured options outdoors, and this is reflected in improved behaviour records or fewer incidents.
• Some pupils with low or vulnerable attendance have outdoor routines built into their support plans, and leaders can point to cases where this has helped re-establish daily attendance.
• Staff and pupil voice describe playtimes as fair, safe and enjoyable, with older pupils and leaders modelling the attitudes to learning and relationships you want to see back in the classroom.

How your playground supports personal development and inclusion

Under the renewed framework, personal development and inclusion each have dedicated evaluation areas.

Inspectors look at how well the school supports pupils to grow as individuals. As well as how effectively needs of all learners are met, including those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it shows how your outdoor space can evidence strong personal development and inclusive playground provision:

• Outdoor spaces are planned to give pupils real responsibility and leadership opportunities. For example, through play leaders, buddies or pupil-led games.
• The playground offers a mix of challenge and security, so pupils can take manageable risks, build confidence and resilience, and experience success at different starting points.
• There are clearly thought-through options for pupils who find social times difficult, including calmer zones, outdoor sensory circuits and agreed regulation spaces, so they can still belong to the wider peer group.
• Routes, playground surfacing, and accessible equipment choices allow pupils with physical, sensory, or medical needs to take part in outdoor activities alongside their friends.
• Outdoor play is used to strengthen friendships and social skills, with adults quietly coaching turn-taking, inclusive play, and repair after conflict, in line with the school’s values.
• Pupil voice from different groups, including pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged, reflects that they feel safe, included and able to use the playground in ways that match their needs and interests.

How your playground shows safeguarding and risk management in practice

Safeguarding in the new framework is about culture as much as compliance. Inspectors assess how the school keeps pupils safe in everyday activities, at social times, and across all parts of the school.

Here are some ideas on how your outdoor space can evidence strong safeguarding and child-led risk management:

• Sightlines, boundaries and routes are regularly reviewed and adjusted. So there are no “blind spots” where unsafe behaviour can easily go unnoticed.
• Risk assessments for outdoor areas balance safety with appropriate challenge, and leaders can explain specific changes they have made in response to incident patterns.
• Arrival, departure and handover routines in outdoor areas are organised and calm. Reducing the risk for pupils.
• Plans for pupils with medical, mobility or sensory needs include how they will be kept safe outdoors. As well as staff describing the adjustments or equipment that make this possible.
• Behaviour, accident and near-miss records from outdoor spaces are reviewed regularly, and the resulting tweaks to layout, supervision or routines can be clearly explained to inspectors as “we noticed this, so we did that”, rather than simply removing opportunities.

How your playground reflects leadership and governance decisions

Outdoor spaces say a lot about how leaders think about curriculum, inclusion, physical activity and community engagement.

Under the new framework, inspectors are interested in how well leadership decisions, governance oversight and community involvement translate into real experiences for pupils.

Here’s how your playground design can evidence strong leadership and governance:

• Senior leaders and governors can explain the chosen playground design or future plans. Linking them to priorities such as inclusion, behaviour, physical activity, early years development, or SEND.
• Decisions about outdoor investment are clearly linked to your school development plan. With the playground sitting alongside other curriculum, safeguarding and well-being actions.
• Governors understand how funding streams have been used to enhance outdoor provision, such as PE and sport premium, pupil premium, EYPP, SEND funding and capital or curriculum budgets.
• Parents, pupils and staff have been meaningfully involved in shaping the vision for the outdoor space.
• PTA fundraising and external grants have been directed towards clearly defined needs outdoors. And leaders can describe what has changed for pupils as a result of that community support.
• Leaders regularly review how outdoor spaces are working in practice, using behaviour data, pupil voice and staff feedback to make adjustments.

How to gather simple evidence from your playground

The inspection toolkit is clear. Inspectors don’t require a specific format, so you don’t need to create additional paperwork. They work with what you already use to run the school.

The goal, then, is to make sure your existing evidence tells a clear story about how you use outdoor space.

You might want to use:

• Simple annotated site maps showing how different areas support PE, EYFS learning, inclusion, social spaces and quiet zones.
• Timetables and rotas for PE, outdoor learning, clubs and targeted groups, including breakfast and after-school provision that uses outdoor space.
• Pupil voice surveys or notes from school council, sports leaders or eco groups. About how they use and experience the playground.
• Behaviour and incident logs are used reflectively to show how changes to layout or routines have reduced issues.
• Participation records for extra-curricular clubs, outdoor SEND interventions or funded activities outdoors. Including for pupils supported through pupil premium and EYPP.

How Fawns help schools design playgrounds that naturally generate evidence

A well-designed space doesn’t just keep children busy – it becomes part of how they achieve, belong and thrive.

Fawns have been designing school playgrounds for over 35 years, making it the UK’s longest-established specialist school playground provider. The focus is always on purpose first, not products.

 Our designs are created to:

• Support curriculum needs, from EYFS physical development and communication to KS4 PE, outdoor learning and personal development.
• Build in inclusion, emotional regulation and sensory play so pupils with a wide range of needs can use the space confidently.
• Offer durability, safety and longevity, so the playground keeps working hard for years, not just the first term.
• Make the process straightforward for schools, with pupil involvement and clear links back to your priorities.

If you’d like to see how that looks in practice, explore our recent school playground projects. Learning the outcomes they’ve helped schools achieve.

Our friendly team look forward to hearing about your playground plans for 2026.

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Playground ideas for primary schools: design ideas that solve real school challenges

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The importance of outdoor ‘play’ in secondary schools