A little school in Cumbria is providing big play opportunities after a £10,000 transformation of its playground has fully utilised the space and gives children access to over 15 new outdoor activities.
The project undertaken at Ennerdale School, a two class village school nestled in the Ennerdale Valley near Cleator Moor, became a reality after play consultants, Sovereign Play Equipment, designed the new play space and provided support to help the school successfully obtain Big Lottery funding.
Katy Huntington, Area Manager at Sovereign Play Equipment commented: "Like all small environments, it's crucial to utilise space effectively. Teachers at Ennerdale School wanted to improve play and learning opportunities for children while making the best use of outdoor space. After considering the needs of the school, we planned and designed a new playground that would transform the small environment into a colourful and fully functional play space with a range of challenging games and fun learning activities."
New equipment includes a range of colourful safety surfacing and playground markings, alongside an adventure trail and a variety of space-saving activity panels, musical play activities and creative panels.
Each piece of equipment has been carefully selected to encourage active play, while supporting children's development in problem solving, motor skills, social skills and co-operation. In addition, many pieces of the equipment support the National Curriculum and offer a multisensory approach to learning subjects such as maths, science and geography. The result is a fully functional playground that can be used during break times, after school and as part of curriculum PE.
Gwen Delaney, Admin Officer at Ennerdale School commented: "When we first invited Sovereign to come and discuss our options for developing the school playground and garden, we had no concrete plans for financing the project. With their help and hard work we worked together to obtain Big Lottery funding which enabled us to carry out the plans Sovereign had designed and tailored to fit our very small play area, a tricky challenge which was well met and achieved."
