St Brendan’s RC Primary

About the Project

We have had the pleasure of working with St Brendan’s Primary School for many years now and have at this stage worked on developing every one of their play spaces in some way.

We first started on their large KS1 and 2 playground which had some existing equipment they wanted to retain and build on the space they had around the perimeter of the large tarmac space. We moved their existing recycle plastic trim trail to another part of the playground which gave us a big clear section of grass to install a simple MUGA (Multi Use Games Area). The three new sides of fence are in the school colours with self-closing gate made for an enclosed areas for the children to take part in ball games and other competitive sports to build on their gross motor skills.

The groundworks carried out created a flat expanse of wetpour to play on and then the surrounding grass areas were covered with bonded rubber mulch to allow use all year round. A Sail Shade was also added to create a shaded space with picnic benches for children to socialise or work outdoors.

The mulch was also installed at the other end of the playground where the trail was reinstalled and the grass embankment tidied up and accessible. A storytellers area was also replaced at a later date in a quieter, more enclosed corner for the children to continue building upon their language skills, as stories are created and told and poems are recited.

One of out most recent projects on this KS1 and 2 areas was an extra long treated timber traverse wall which was installed to create a barrier between the adjoining resident homes and the playground. Rather than building just a solid fence, we used picket pales and rock holds to make it a physical play feature for the children to improve their strength and stamina.

On of our biggest projects at the school was the complete redesign and transformation of their EYFS playground. The teachers asked for a play area that would tie in with their schools Golden Values, which are creating a positive, caring and encouraging atmosphere for their pupils. During the design process we also kept in mind their school slogan: “Love Life, Love Learning, Achieve Together in God’s Love.”

There was a huge investment in trying to get the most out of the budget and the space they had available. It challenged us to be super creative and come up with a design that we think had a real wow factor. The area had various different levels which sometimes proved a safety issue for the young users and with this in mind we worked towards making the space safe and easily accessible for all.

The school chose to remove two very large overbearing trees in the area which instantly created more space and the undulating roots where no long a trip hazard. A retaining wall with picket fence was installed to create a lower and upper playground. The lower playground had a new layer of tarmac installed followed by a thermoplastic bike rack and number snake. The upper playground was covered with bonded rubber mulch to create a nice smooth surface throughout that allowed for access all year round.

There was an existing slope which had a sunken garden in it which we used as the starting point for a new multilevel physical play area. We came up with a ‘Ship in the Port’ design which had a gang way bridge onto the ship which children could clamber round. The quiet space below the platforms even made for some den spaces as well as seating behind the bow.

Moving onto the opposite side of the embankment we used a relatively flat space to install a reading den which was kitted out with friendly artificial grass surfacing, outdoor beanbags, book shelves and mark making boards.

An outdoor classroom was created with a semi-circle of benches positioned in front of mark making boards for both child and teacher use. The school wanted to be able to get out no matter what the weather so they chose to have plastic used where possible to allow for things to be wiped down and dried – nothing would stop them using their new space, not even the unpredictable and often miserable UK weather!

Our popular water wall and water table combo fitted seamlessly up again the fence to allow for the freedom to roam around the area and still provide a space for water play. Alongside this a new Messy play area with sleeper retention and bark infill was installed with a mud kitchen, mud store, scales, menu chalk board and mushroom table and chairs creating a dedicated space for messy play.

A den making area was also created so that the children could create their own dens as well as education play panels dotted along the picket fence.

• Extensive ground works undertaken to give the school more usable play space.
• Split Level Play Area with retaining brick wall and fencing.
• Extended tarmac playground with thermoplastic markings.
• Outdoor Classroom with Fence Mounted Education Play Panels, HDPE Benches and Dry Wipe Board
• Den Making Area
• Reading Shed with Mark Making Boards, Artificial Grass Surfacing, Book Shelves and Outdoor Bean Bags
• Custom Built Play Ship
• Water Play Area with Interactive Water Wall and Large Table
• Messy Play Area with Mud Kitchen, Mud Store, Mushroom Table & Chairs and Scales
• Bonded Rubber Mulch Surfacing