Outdoor Learning with Shade

Before

After

Children play on the Stage

The covered sandpit is popular year-round

Brookham School

Shade sails make outdoor learning and play safer

Brookham School, Liphook, Surrey wanted to maximise use of the paved area of their playground and approached AEL Solutions for practical help, ideas and equipment.
Ideally, Brookham School wanted an outdoor classroom and teaching area incorporating a stage combined with an area where the children could play and learn at break times. Shade to protect children from the sun’s UV rays was of course very important. The school’s brief also mentioned a need for lockable storage for playground items and a desire for a way to neatly store the children’s Wellington boots so they could place them and find them easily.

Clear options
AEL provided several options to achieve the desired objectives. To aid decision-making, all the options were presented as computer graphics depicting how the completed works would look.
The school selected a plan with shade-sails, a large outdoor stage, play tables, a covered sandpit, planters as a surround, wall mounted welly-boot holders and lockable outdoor storage bins.

Complete Follow-through
Once Brookham School had made their selection, AEL Solutions began their complete follow-through service. Some of the items were standard products and others were custom designed and built for Brookham School.
All were manufactured by AEL Solutions in their Reading factory, and the ground works and installation were completed by an AEL installation team.

Safety Surfacing
The AEL installation team lifted the flagstones and placed artificial grass over much of the revamped ground area. This surface is self-cleaning, easy to maintain (no mowing), gives an attractive, natural look and has a five year guarantee. The remaining flagstones were painted green with numbered footprints added for fun and educational value.

Living Borders
Planters were selected to border the resurfaced area, creating an attractive break and allowing the children to experience the thrill of watching the life-cycle of a variety of flowers and vegetables.

Tidy to Boot
The welly boot holder developed for Brookham School has proved immensely popular. Now when children head outside their boots are dry, easy to find, and stored neatly in pairs! Fixed to the wall or free standing, the boot holder can be manufactured to any size.

Focal Point
A hexagonal stage was built as the centrepiece. The stage is sited so the lines of trees visible between the planters provide a dramatic backdrop to complete the setting.

Sand Pit
A covered sand pit offers further play opportunities. The buckets and spades can be neatly stored in the covered lockers.

Play Tables
AEL’s ever-popular Stamford play tables and benches add further flexibility. These play table benches are moveable so they can also be used for seating around the stage.

The result: the former dull, little-used paved area has been replaced by an educational play centre that the children and teachers of Brookham School appreciate