Client: Hartley Primary Academy
Location: Longfield, Kent
Hartley Primary Academy has an active PTA which raises funds to support the school. Last year they began fundraising activities to fully replace an important but aging timber Adventure Trail at the school for their lower school Key Stage 2 years.
Phillip Goldsmith, the school’s Site Manager & ICT Technician contacted Playdale to arrange for Jill Watson, our Regional Manager for the South to visit the school to carry out a free, no obligation site survey and consultancy.
Our Steel Ground Fixing option on the timber Adventure Trail was of particular interest to Phillip as he was keen to preserve the life of the new trail for as long as possible. Click here to watch our explanatory video about the benefits of choosing Steel Ground Fixings on our timber outdoor play equipment.
Working together with the PTA, the school, the space available, the available budget and safety surfacing requirements we produced two scheme options. These included detailed quotations, scaled plans and colourful picture sheets. Following a few tweaks and amendments the final design was agreed upon.
The PTA worked hard to raise the necessary funding via awards, grants and fundraising activities. Once the project had approval from everyone involved it was all systems go!
The super new Adventure Trail includes the following items which can be seen in the images; Timber Cross Beams, Timber Clatter Bridge, Timber Wobble Board, Timber Zig Zag Rope, Timber Tyre Hopscotch, Timber Striding Stilts, Timber Zig Zag Stepper and a number of our City Rubber Steps to join up the trail. Set amongst the trees, the timber equipment compliments its surroundings beautifully, and the Playdale Synthetic Grass safety surfacing with rubber fill, really adds the finishing touch to the play area. Most importantly, this surfacing means that the area can be fully utilised whatever the weather! The whole trail, installation and safety surfacing came to approximately £13,000.
The children of Hartley Primary Academy can now enjoy a fantastic new Adventure Trail. Playdale’s Adventure Trail is designed to keep children active and to challenge a number of their skills, including balance & coordination, problem solving, and teamwork.
Following the installation, the reaction and feedback was superb. Phillip contacted us to say, “I just wanted to say a huge thank you for our new Adventure Trail. It looks fabulous and is exactly what we wanted. The installers have been superb and apart from signing in and out, we did not even know they were on site. They were extremely polite and helpful and more than happy to explain the different stages they were doing. I will definitely be recommending Playdale to the other schools in our area.”
If you would like to arrange a free, no obligation consultancy meeting and site survey with your local Area Manager, click here. We look forward to hearing from you.
Playground Design Challenge: AI vs Experts As a specialist playground equipment manufacturer, Playdale is always looking to the future of playground design – identifying new trends, acting on new developments in playground design and finding new ways to make our play equipment more accessible. With plenty of talk in the media of rapid advancements in […]
We all know the feeling – the sinking dread of realising your child is the only one not in fancy dress as you turn up at the school gates. Between our increasingly busy lives and our kids forgetting to tell us about the countless dress-up and event days, it’s no wonder parents are starting to […]
Education Through Play The impact of educational play on childhood development isn’t just a nice idea – it’s scientifically proven. Play-based learning in early childhood helps children develop essential skills, benefitting their physical and social capabilities whilst nurturing a natural curiosity about the world around them. Outdoor playgrounds are crucial in providing a well-equipped and […]
