Primary School Playground Consultancy • Outdoor Learning • Staff CPD
We help schools rethink the space they already have — keeping the durable playground, pitches and equipment that work, then adding purposeful areas for active play, quieter play, socialising and outdoor learning. Practical to supervise, realistic to maintain, and designed around your children.
What we do
We do not start by replacing a playground or filling it with planting. We start with what already works, how your children use the site, how staff supervise it and what your maintenance team can realistically sustain. Then we identify the changes that will make the biggest difference.
Practical zoning that keeps sport and hard-surface play, while creating clear places for climbing, balancing, reading, talking and small-group games.
Learn more →Site audits, phased plans and practical improvements that help your existing grounds support outdoor learning without creating an unrealistic maintenance burden.
Learn more →Play spaces where every child belongs — accessible, sensory-rich and designed with SEND needs in mind from day one.
Learn more →Practical, hands-on training — INSET days, half days, weekend courses and in-class coaching — so outdoor learning becomes everyday practice.
Learn more →Playground consultancy for primary schools
A good school playground does not need to choose between traditional hard-surface play and a fully naturalised landscape. We help schools keep the durable areas that already work for running, ball games and whole-school use, then create additional zones for climbing, balancing, reading, socialising and smaller-group play. Boundaries can be simple and robust — changes in surfacing, benches, planters, low fencing or carefully selected planting — so the space feels varied without becoming a garden that staff have to maintain.
These are not six pieces of equipment that every school needs. They are ways a playground can work. One area may support several uses, resources can change through the year, and the final mix is shaped around your children, staffing, site and budget.
Space for games that need less room and fewer players: boules, target games, throwing and catching, mini-courts, tabletop activities or changing playground challenges. Markings and moveable resources allow the offer to evolve rather than fixing the space to one game.
A lower-energy place to read, talk, sit quietly or take a few minutes away from busy play. Shade, seating, shelter or simple visual boundaries can create a calmer feel without turning the area into a high-maintenance garden.
Opportunities to move in different ways: stepping, traversing, balancing, jumping, crawling, weaving and changing direction. These might use markings, low-level features, loose resources, logs, boulders or selected equipment depending on the site.
Keep proper space for football, running, basketball, netball and larger group games. The aim is not to remove sport, but to give high-energy activity a clear home so it can thrive without automatically occupying every part of the playground.
A flexible place for small groups to make, build, solve problems, invent games, role-play or simply spend time together. Seating, tables, loose parts and open floor space can support many activities rather than prescribing a single use.
Space deliberately left adaptable: chalk art, construction, den-making, performance, seasonal activities, pupil-led projects or whatever becomes important next. Not every square metre needs a permanent purpose; flexibility is part of the design.
Bespoke to your school
There is no off-the-shelf layout. Before proposing changes, we look at how your school actually uses the site: how children move through it, how adults supervise it, what the grounds team can maintain and which existing features are worth keeping.
Safe, practical and maintainable
A successful design has to work after the launch day. We consider supervision, drainage, cleaning, wear, storage, vegetation, repairs and inspection from the start. Where play features are constructed or installed, we identify the relevant standards and guidance, and recommend proportionate checks, maintenance and independent inspection where appropriate.
Moveable or loose resources can add variety without major construction. They still need sensible checking, storage and supervision, but can often sit within normal school routines.
e.g. loose parts, moveable blocks, crates, simple game resources
Fixed or constructed natural features need to be considered as designed play features, with their risks, fixings, fall heights, surfacing and deterioration managed appropriately.
e.g. fixed balance logs, timber edging, constructed shelters or trellis structures
Manufactured or purpose-built equipment is used where it genuinely adds value, with access, surfacing, supervision and ongoing maintenance considered as part of the wider layout.
e.g. Gaga pit, climbing frame, traversing wall
For school business managers and governors: proposals separate capital costs from likely ongoing maintenance, inspection and replacement implications. The aim is to avoid creating a space that looks impressive on day one but is difficult or expensive for the school to sustain.
Outdoor learning space development
Outdoor learning does not require every corner of the site to become a garden. We identify the parts of your existing grounds that can support teaching, then add only the features that make them more useful, accessible and manageable throughout the school year.
Consultancy process
We walk the grounds, ideally while they are in use, to understand movement, supervision, pinch points, underused areas and the features already worth keeping.
We work with school leaders, teaching and support staff, premises teams and children to understand what different pupils need from playtime and what the school can realistically supervise and maintain.
An illustrated, flexible-use concept with priorities, suggested materials, indicative costs and the maintenance or inspection implications that should be considered before implementation.
A staged plan that lets the school begin with high-impact, affordable changes and use appropriate contractors or suppliers for specialist work.
Staff and pupils are introduced to how the new areas can be used, how resources are managed and the simple routines that will help the playground work well from the start.
We return once the space has been lived in. Staff and children review what is working, learn practical care routines and can establish a pupil breaktime playground-care club to help look after resources, notice issues and build ownership of the space.
Inclusive playground development
One open playground rarely works equally well for every child. We help schools create a better mix of active, social and quieter spaces, with access, sightlines, sensory load and supervision considered from the outset.
Teacher CPD
Beautiful grounds only matter if they're used. Our CPD is practical, delivered outdoors wherever possible, and built around the realities of a busy school week — real lessons, real weather, real children.
The essentials for any member of staff starting out with learning outside the classroom.
Aim: Give staff the confidence to take a class outside and bring it back in, calm and focused.
INSET day · half day
Taking maths, science, English and geography outside — with clear objectives and assessment.
Aim: Show that subject teaching outdoors can be rigorous, with clear objectives and evidence of progress.
INSET day
Open-ended play that builds language, creativity, problem solving and collaboration.
Aim: Set up open-ended play that staff can sustain and that builds language and problem solving.
Half day · hands-on outdoors
Adapting outdoor learning and play so every child can take part fully and safely.
Aim: Make sure every child can take part fully and safely in outdoor learning and play.
INSET day · half day
Moving from “risk-averse” to “risk-aware” — managing hazards while keeping the benefits of challenge.
Aim: Move from risk-averse to risk-aware, with assessments that stand up to scrutiny.
Half day · weekend
For heads, deputies and outdoor learning leads embedding a sustainable whole-school approach.
Aim: Embed outdoor learning in how the school runs, so it never relies on one enthusiast.
Half day · termly
Using outdoor challenge to build resilience, communication and leadership in older pupils.
Aim: Give staff a ready-to-run set of team challenges and debriefs for transition, re-engagement and personal development.
INSET day · weekend
A practical follow-up with staff and pupils once the new playground has been in use, helping the school embed good routines, adapt what is not working and develop pupil ownership.
Aim: Keep the new space well used, well cared for and owned by pupils long after the build.
Half day · on site with staff & pupils
Equipping midday supervisors and support staff to enable rich, inclusive play.
Aim: Give lunchtime staff the confidence to support rich, inclusive play without taking it over.
Half day
Whole-staff training on your site, using your own grounds.
Full or half-day courses on a Saturday, on site or at a local green space.
Team-teaching and modelled lessons with your classes.
Training, coaching and review to embed lasting change.
40+
years of combined experience
Our experience spans classroom teaching, outdoor education and senior school leadership. That includes responsibility for both academic and operational areas of school life, giving us a practical understanding of how ideas need to work for pupils, staff, leaders, premises teams and governors — not just how they look on a plan.
Questions
Yes. Some of the most useful changes are about zoning, markings, seating, routines and better use of what is already there. We can help you prioritise quick wins and create a phased plan for larger improvements as funding becomes available.
We can provide the design rationale, priorities and indicative cost information that can support grant applications, governor decisions or PTA fundraising.
Our playground consultancy is primarily designed for primary schools, where breaktime use, supervision and competing demands on limited space are central to the brief. Our outdoor-learning and staff-development work can also be adapted for other phases and settings.
We deliver training and consultancy on site at your school. Get in touch to discuss your location and we'll let you know how we can help.
Get in touch
Tell us a little about your school and what you'd like to achieve. We'll arrange a free, no-obligation chat to explore how we can help.