Gravel Hill Primary School

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Playgrounds

Gravel Hill Primary School knew they needed to encourage physical development for their children during the school day. But, they were unsure of where to begin their playground project. After some background research and speaking to other local schools, they contacted our office. They then arranged a free consultation with one of our play experts, Neil Martin. By utilising Neil’s 17 years’ experience designing playgrounds, the school discovered that they were able to afford not one, but two large pieces of playground equipment that would provide age-appropriate challenge for both their Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils within the budget they had set aside. They were understandably delighted with the news and couldn’t wait to get the project underway.

With very little outdoor play equipment currently available for their pupils, Gravel Hill wanted an exciting piece of play equipment that would cater for many Key Stage 1 pupils, focused on improving agility, balance and co-ordination. For their Key Stage 2 play area, the brief from the school was to increase the level of challenge, offering something alternative in terms of design to the Key Stage 1 play equipment, but that would develop further the pupils gross motor skills and core strength. The school were also keen to incorporate some problem solving, decision-making and increased teamwork between the children in both new play areas.

Creating an extension of the school playground

With over 400 pupils at the school, space on the existing tarmac playgrounds was at a premium. To ensure the new play equipment didn’t impact on the current activities, our play consultant, Neil Martin recommended utilising the school playing field which was near both playgrounds and able to serve as a perfect extension to the existing playgrounds without any restrictions on access or visibility for supervision.

A shared vision for learning through play

Gravel Hill Primary School has a very simple, yet impactful motto: Learning for Life. They fully believe that “The Future is not somewhere we are going to, it is something we are creating right now”, and it was a pleasure to assist in creating multiple playgrounds that inspire children to learn, discover and lead healthy, active lives. Having been informed by the school of the exponential growth in confidence, physical activity, and general well-being of the pupils since their new playgrounds have been installed, we know the new playground equipment will continue to make a positive impact, for the pupils of Gravel Hill Primary School for many years to come.

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