Wharton Primary School, Manchester

The Background
Wharton Primary pride themselves in providing a high quality, rounded education which meets the academic, social, emotional and physical needs of their children. They have created a positive, nurturing environment with high expectations for learning and behaviour. They aim to challenge and support their children whatever their ability, fostering a love of learning and preparing their children for the next stage of their education as confident and resilient young people.

The Brief
The school had identified a need for some climbing equipment in their EYFS area. They understood the many benefits of outdoor play but in particular the huge benefits that come with climbing. The schools main priority for the project was the surfacing, they had a large area of natural grass that was very boggy and unusable for most of the year and so they wanted to surface it to extend the existing tarmac space and so they could use the new equipment all year round.

The Project
Our sales consultant met with Janet the EYFS Lead to discuss the schools requirements. The school had a preference to our EYFS trim trail range and chose some items they wanted to see in the design including one of our best sellers the twisty challenge, the log pass, the balance challenge, traverse wall with footrail, low level traverse net and the inclined balance beam. They had a budget of £15,000 for the development and we managed to include everything they asked and come in just under budget. The school loved the design and once they received approval from the Head, they were ready to place the order. On site, the project began with the preparation of the ground followed by the installation of the trim trail items, once this was complete, the team installed a sub base which is essential when installing artificial grass onto natural grass but it also alleviates any drainage issue’s too. The artificial grass was then laid on top of the sub base to finish the project. ESP Play then paid for an independent inspection to be carried out and the school were provided with a free inspection report to provide peace of mind that the area was fully compliant and safe to use.

The Outcome
The pictures speak for themselves. The children are now using different muscles, developing their gross motor skills by using their whole bodies to climb along the equipment and becoming increasingly confident, agile and flexible. The ropes encourage them to grip and hold, helping them to develop their fine motor skills. The children will learn to share the equipment and how to interact with other children using the equipment. The open ended nature of the equipment allows the children’s imagination to thrive and the endorphins released during the physical activity will also improve their mental health and well-being, the benefits really are endless.
Janet said “The benefit, especially at this time of the year is huge, the area would normally be completely out of bounds because it got so muddy but now the children can use it all year round and they love rolling on the grass!” The school were really happy with the works carried out and are not only going to use ESP Play again to develop their Year 1 outdoor area but they will also recommend us to other schools.

If you have an Early Years Foundation Stage outdoor space that is in need of improvement then please get in touch with a member of our team today to hear about how we can help.