When we got feedback from the children about which areas of the school they wished to improve 85% of them highlighted the lack of equipment on the playground for them to use. Many of these pupils are very aware of the variety of opportunities available to Broadford pupils.
Play equipment is expensive. In order to pay for the £16,000 gym installation we secured a £10,000 grant from Awards for All. We wanted the area to be available in all weathers, so installing into grass wasn't an option - it would very quickly become slippery and too muddy to use. Consequently we had a gravel surface installed. This cost an additional £3,000.
The total area that we created is 180 sq m in size. We opted for this so that - when additional funds are available - we will be able to add extra equipment: clamber walls, extra gym equipment and trim trail elements.
Some parents have asked why a safety surface wasn't installed. The reasons for this are listed below:
- The gravel/compacted Type 1 surface is safe: pupils are supervised at break and lunchtimes, running through/in between the equipment isn't permitted and pupils have been shown how to use the equipment safely in assemblies.
- The cost of a safety surface for an area that size is prohibitively expensive: the costs we have been quoted are between £18-23,000.
- We are yet to finish installing equipment in that area. Once funds are available then we will add new items into the empty areas and we wanted a surface that would allow us to do that easily.
- No surface is perfectly safe. At both schools the worst accidents we have had on the playground have both occurred on areas where there is a wet pour surface - though we should mention these incidents are few and far between.
Some parents have also wanted to seek the opinion of health and safety experts. We take the safety of your children extremely seriously and already have support in place from the Borough, Sovereign Play (who inspect the play equipment), Ofsted and our own Governors.
- Our Health & Safety representative recently completed a walk around the whole site to take in all of the new equipment. No recommendations were made regarding the recently installed gym equipment.
- The third party play equipment inspector made no recommendations regarding the gravel play surface
- The Health & Safety Executive have also spoken to the school and assured us - as recently as this week - that there is no need for any further work to be done to the surface.
- Ofsted had only positive comments to make about the gym equipment - inspectors even tried it out during the recent inspection in October making some very specific comments about the way in which the site has been developed:
Governors know their school well, and are confident and skilled in asking challenging questions. Their expertise has been used very well to ensure that it benefits the school. For example, their knowledge of construction has enabled the school to improve buildings and outdoor play areas.
As you can see we have listened carefully to those third parties who also take your children's welfare seriously. All are satisfied that the play equipment is safe.
We hope that this reassures you that we have taken your concerns seriously and that our actions are well thought through. We also would hope that - as many of you have - you recognise the huge level of investment that has taken place over the last six months to rapidly improve provision in all areas of the school. We have created a fantastic learning environment - but we are not done yet. Every penny we can get will be used to improve the facilities further and we look forward to more installations in the near future.
Thank you again for taking such an interest.
