St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, Chorley

The Background

St Bede’s Catholic Primary is a happy school where children are given the opportunity to achieve their full potential in a caring and supportive environment. They value each child as a unique individual and support them in their educational journey, ensuring their mission statement is fulfilled – Love, Learn and Serve.

The Brief

During each visit to the school, the sales consultant met with the Headteacher Val to discuss the requirements for the projects. On the first occasion, Val wanted to remove the stage from the main playground because it was slippery and becoming a hazard. She wanted to replace the stage with a shelter because the school didn’t have one in the main playground and they needed some protection from the elements. The second visit to the school was to look at removing and replacing the storage sheds in the main playground, they were obstructing the view of the lunchtime staff who were struggling to see the children that were playing on the tyres. There was also an area of wetpour surfacing in the nursery area that needed repairing. The third visit to the school was to discuss the addition of a bespoke shelter which was to be used as an outdoor classroom and the fourth visit was to discuss adding a surface under the bespoke shelter.

The Project

The first project we carried out at the school was to remove the existing stage and replace it with our large shelter which comes complete with seating and planters. The second project at the school was to remove the storage sheds that were obstructing the view, we then installed a new storage shed onto the grass banking, utilising the grass kept the tarmac space free and meant the new shed wouldn’t cause an obstruction. We also installed some fencing to the back of the storage shed to stop the children from accessing the area behind it. The area of wetpour in the nursery had shrunk over time, as a result the edges had lifted and become a trip hazard, Val had also said that the surface was slippery so we repaired the edges of the existing wetpour and then installed artificial grass over the top. During the third project at the school we installed a bespoke 10m shelter onto an area of grass outside two of the classrooms and for the fourth project we installed brown rubber mulch surfacing under the bespoke shelter so that it could be used in all weather.

The Outcome

In the main playground the school now has a beautiful new shelter, the old storage sheds are no longer obstructing the view and the new storage shed is perfectly situated on the grass banking. The area of surfacing in nursery has been refreshed and the artificial grass has added a pop of colour which has brightened up the whole area. The bespoke shelter with surfacing can now be used as an outdoor classroom no matter what the weather.

Val said “We are extremely happy with the recent work. From the meetings with Shona, the pre-site meetings and installation has been excellent. We would recommend your company to other schools, we recently shared this with Westwood Primary. All staff have been extremely professional.”

If you need some ideas on how to improve the outdoor space at your school please get in touch and arrange your free consultation today.