An independent girls school in Bushey has invested £45,000 in developing a challenging imaginative play area for pupils. The pupils had a lot to smile about when they returned to school as the playground boasts an array of exciting physical experiences from a three-towered ‘cook multi-play unit’ with large platform, to a fire fighter’s pole, a climbing wall with scramble net, a jungle swing trail and multiple slides and tunnels.
The playground is accessible to all children from Reception through to Year 6.
The playground is designed to offer safe but enhanced opportunities for physical challenge as well as to encourage imaginative and cooperative play as the girls at St Margaret’s continue to learn about goals, perseverance and resilience. The school currently operates a rota for the use of the playground on a daily basis.
Rose Hardy, Headmistress, explained: “There’s a great buzz of excitement amongst the girls right now and it’s fantastic to see them enjoying the new facilities and learning independently through their play. Certain elements of the playground are proving to be a real challenge too, so it’s encouraging to see them outside of their comfort zones, striving to achieve new goals.”
“The pupils had a lot to smile about when they returned to school as the playground boasts an array of exciting physical experiences.”
For the construction of the playground, the school chose to work with outdoor activity specialist Wicksteed Park over more conventional suppliers due to its experience in developing play areas in a variety of settings.
Hardy continued: “During the planning stages, we were very insistent that the playground had to fit into our local surroundings and showcase our beautiful countryside setting, so using as many natural and sustainable materials as possible was an important factor in the construction of the playground.”
Sitting on an Ecotumble safety play surface, the playground also includes a ‘pick up sticks’ area for general climbing and a fun and challenging ‘crawl tunnel’, the school is also considering the prospect of incorporating a new ‘zip wire’ feature in the future.
