dbdplay Case Studies

Outdoor Classroom and Woodland Area - Easton Royal Academy

Written by Rachael Webb | Oct 26, 2021 1:56:00 PM

Setting the Scene

Easton Royal Academy is a small rural school, situated in a gorgeous village in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside between Pewsey and Marlborough. With just over 50 pupils it is a smaller than average Primary School with parts of the school dating back to 1870! Easton Royal Academy is a part of Excalibur Academies Trust.

Customer Objectives

Easton Royal had been impressed with the works we had completed at another school in their Academy Trust and requested resurfacing of their timber Trim Trail area. The school also wanted to encourage play and exploration in an unused area which was overgrown. They often engaged in Forest School lessons outside of the school setting and wanted to incorporate Forest School on the school grounds, to encourage learning about nature and caring for the environment and living things.

Our Solution

We installed an Outdoor Learning Room, which provides a covered space for the children to play and learn, and also a space for storing equipment. The two Chalkboards on the doors encourage children to develop their literacy skills. Our Sand and Water Activity Tables offer opportunities for children to enhance their fine motor and problem-solving skills.

For the Forest Schools, Natural Play Area, we cleared the whole area and created a large natural open space for the school, surfaced with Playgrade Bark. Playgrade Sleepers were placed around the bark to stop the bark migrating to other areas, but also to provide seating for the children. We installed our Storytelling Chair and Grass Top Stools which offer an area for social interaction and class group discussion.

The Dual Planters and Trellis encourage children to have hands on experiences whilst developing their Knowledge and
Understanding of the World. We installed Just Like Grass underneath the existing Trim Trail to revitalise this area and ensure the equipment could be used all the year round.

Testimonial

“I have worked with dbdplay on multiple separate occasions over the last few years at many different schools
and they will remain as my go to company for any resurfacing need within an educational setting.”

Shona Barker, Project Manager, Excalibur Academies Trust