Eco-Friendly School Chooses Eco-friendly Playground
BEING green is an important part of life at Kehelland Village
School, so much so that when it came to choosing new playground
equipment sustainability was a deciding factor.
The school on the outskirts of Camborne believes in being
environmentally friendly and wanted to buy a trim trail from a
company that has sustainability at its heart.
The pupils are now delighted that, as they climb, balance,
stretch and swing their way through a series of obstacles, they are
using recycled rubber and timber from Forestry Stewardship
Certificated trees from sustainable forests.
The equipment was supplied and fitted by Playforce, a premier
provider of playground equipment and an award-winning company that
takes environmental issues very seriously.
Head teacher at Kehelland, Karen Brooker, explained that the
school tries hard to be an eco-school and was very pleased that
Playforce shared their enthusiasm, not just using sustainable
materials to build the equipment but re-using or recycling all
packaging and waste and sometimes even re-homing equipment they are
replacing, if it is still safe to use.
Photos (by Bernie Pettersen):
Pupils at Kehelland School have fun on their new
Playforce equipment
“We spent a long time fund-raising so we wanted to get it
right and it appears we have,” explained Mrs Brooker.
“We were very impressed with all the special measures
Playforce employ and equally impressed with the equipment. Its
fantastic and the children love it. We knew it would be popular at
first but the novelty has not worn off and even though we are a
small school we have to run a rota to make sure there aren’t
too many children using it at once.”
Mrs Brooker explained that the school wanted new equipment to
create a fun stimulating environment that could exercise not just
the children’s bodies but also their minds as well as
developing important social skills like sharing and
self-respect.
In addition to the obvious physical benefits Mrs Brooker said
she has noticed the children developing a range of new skills -
including vivid imaginations.
“Sometimes we pretend it’s a jungle or safari
park,” said Eden, 9. “I like to believe that the
climbing wall is really a big hill, it is green after all,”
said Chloe, 5. “I go to a gymnastics club and find the bars
really useful for extra practice,” said Amy, 8. “The
top of the scramble net is like a crow’s nest, you can see
everything from up here, I never want to get off it,” said
Amy, 11.
Kehelland School doesn’t have any PE equipment so the trim
trail is used for gym lesson too - another huge bonus according to
Robert Roskilly, the school’s PE teacher.
Further information relating to Playforce can be obtained from
www.playforce.co.uk