A Healthy Trim Trail To Improve Children's Physical And Mental Wellbeing
Franche Primary School in Worcestershire were determined to develop an uneven, blank canvas of grass into an invigorating, thrilling active play space.
Emma Running, assistant headteacher at the school, worked alongside our talented outdoor learning consultant, Chloe Pope, to transform the area into a space that would truly target and develop the children’s key physical skills, whilst providing an exciting momentum to playtimes.
A Healthy Trim Trail for Healthy Playtimes
As the children were keen to have a permanent fixture in the area to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, we decided that a Trim Trail would be a well-suited addition to the playground. Featuring a wide range of challenges, the trim trail would create an exciting active play space.
The huge trim trail has been installed in a semi-circle position through the blank canvas, enabling children to travel from one section of the tarmac to the other in an exciting and active way.
To complete the challenging trail, children must traverse through nine stimulating challenges, each varying in difficulty. The trail is perfect for getting children active and improving a wide range of key physical skills!
As the new equipment truly targets and improves so many different areas of physical development, the school have been using the area to support the PE curriculum, extra-curricular provision and behaviour initiatives - extra time on the trim trail is a fantastic reward to aim for each week!
Moreover, the school are now able to use their once blank canvas as a way to support the children to reach their 30:30 active target.
Previously, the area was used as an additional space during playtimes in the dry weather but was out of bounds during the wetter months. The school felt as if the space was being wasted as it couldn’t be used as effectively as they’d like.
With this in mind, we opted to install our vibrant Artificial Grass Surfacing into the space. As it is free draining, it enables the school to use the area no matter what the elements may bring!
The new surfacing is impact-absorbing, ensuring the children can climb, swing and balance from obstacle to obstacle without the risk of serious injury. This really helps improve the children’s climbing confidence as they take safe risks.
How Did You Feel the Installation Went?
Asking Emma how she felt the installation process was, she says:
“Communication throughout the playground project process was clear and coherent. Timings given were stuck to and work was completed in a safe, tidy way. All of the team were extremely welcoming and checked with onsite staff any queries before any further installations took place. All members were extremely professional and we would happily welcome them back for further installations.”
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