A Complete Playground Development at Springwell School

The Customer

Springwell School in Southampton is a primary school for children aged 4-11 with complex learning difficulties.

Springwell pride themselves on ensuring that all children have the best education possible, and that starts by ensuring that they have an exciting and safe space to learn and play.

This is why Springwell chose to work with Pentagon Play to develop their outdoor space.

The Objectives

Springwell School reached out to Pentagon Play to develop their outdoor area with some physical play equipment.

The school wanted to prioritise a space for their pupils build their physical skills, let off some steam and explore their gross motor skills.

They initially were interested in a trim trail and some gym equipment for their pupils, and the school worked closely with Donella Felton to design their ideal space.

Our Approach

Donella communicated back and forth with the school to design an interesting and engaging space that would facilitate active play and exercise for the children at Springwell.

Donella began by planning out an active play trim trail for the children to explore. This includes:

This bespoke space now allows pupils to work on their physical skills such as balance and coordination, as well as physical strength. All of these skills will be beneficial for them in later life.

Donella also added an imaginative play space, which also supports active play, in the form of a bespoke Springwell Tower Unit.

This Bespoke Play Tower includes options for climbing, sliding, scrambling, balance and imaginary play with plenty of visibility for supervision.

Donella also added the versatile climbing support in the form of Get Set, Go! Blocks- The Mendips Set, where pupils can build their gross motor skills at a safe, low-level.

Donella also facilitated outdoor learning with the addition of a sheltered Outdoor Classroom.

Children can continue their classroom learning the sanctuary of an inviting and secure space, giving them a change of pace and new environment.

For those pupils looking for a bit more adventure, Donella has added a Delamere Forest Circuit, which offer a range of opportunities and challenges for pupils to explore.

The Results

It’s safe to say the new area has been a hit with the pupils at Springwell! Here’s what they had to say about their new area…

“The Outdoor Classroom is my favourite part, because it’s nice and a good space.”

During her interview with the pupils at Springwell, Becky Hazell, found that the trim trail was definitely the pupils favourite element, inspiring them to get out into the fresh air on their brand-new playground.

If you would like to develop your outdoor space in a similar way to Springwell, then Contact Us Today to get started.

Or, take a look at our other SEN Projects on our Projects Page now!