Encouraging children to be active and play outdoors is becoming increasingly difficult as they opt to spend time indoors on a variety of technological devices. The lack of outdoor activity has contributed to the increased obesity amongst children. According to figures from the NHS, around 10% of children are obese in their first year of school. We at Hand Made Places specialise in designing, manufacturing and installing high quality timber playgrounds ...

School budget cuts have had a lot of bad press recently, but they don’t have to mean doom and gloom for schools that want to take on a new play project. At Playforce we’ve done the research, and we know that playground investments are worth it.

Last year, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at St Nicholas’ CE Primary School contacted Playforce about an outdoor development project they’d been planning in their meetings. They were looking for someone to help them develop their playground with equipment that encouraged their pupils to play outdoors at every opportunity. They turned to us to help make their outdoor space outstanding.

Dr Katherine Forsey is a retained consultant for Gratnells, school storage and staging providers and leading outdoor education specialist. In her role as senior panellist for Gratnells Learning Rooms, an all-embracing approach to the environment in which teachers and pupils interact, Katherine delivers practical outdoor education opportunities for school children. She believes going outdoors shouldn’t be reserved for the occasional school trip, but should be a regular, normal part ...

The team at Playforce work hard to help increase opportunities for physical activity and sport in schools and the wider community, and have been campaigning to tackle issues such as childhood obesity and the role sporting events play in inspiring children to live active lives for a number of years. In support of this goal, Playforce design equipment and outdoor spaces for schools and nurseries to encourage active play and ...

Teachers looking to tackle the Sugar Tax and Sports Premium are getting support from outdoor activities specialists Creative Play. The Chester-based organisation is working with schools throughout the UK to encourage outdoor play and exercise through the installation of high-quality playground equipment.

Tranmere Rovers captain Steven Jennings has given a thumbs up to a new school playground when he called round to officially open it. The tough tackling midfielder, who has led his side into the play off positions this season, gave a rousing team talk when he attended the official opening at Our Lady and St Edward’s Catholic Primary School in Birkenhead. The new facility was designed, manufactured and installed ...

Pupils from a school in Camberwell, London have been taking part in an investigative activity that allows learners to be conservation scientists for the day. The WWT London Wetland Centre is trialling Conservation Explorers, which offers schoolchildren from Key Stages 2 and 3 the chance to to study endangered birds. Sacred Heart School’s budding conservationists have been measuring birds’ preening rates, using digital photography to help identify species on the wetlands ...

  Independent education charity Sports Leaders UK have just launched I Can Lead, a practical leadership award that has been developed to minimise the administrative burden for teachers while increase leadership learning in secondary schools.

  Teachers at Swiss Valley Primary are launching an innovative gardening project. According to the Llanelli Star, the school’s pupils were yesterday selling seeds and seedlings at the town’s Indoor Market. This activity mirrors a school garden in Canberra, Australia, where the garden and canteen enjoy a cyclical system.