Fun and games in the playground

When we recently approached Yewstock school in Dorset, UK with a proposal to update their old and worn playground games, the offer was readily taken up. The installation of the new and colourful markings was planned to be completed just in time for the new school term to begin.

Yewstock School is a day community school for children with a range of learning difficulties. Some of the children have additional sensory or physical impairments, speech and language disorders or medical needs, others are stated as being within the autistic spectrum. With this in mind, we had to take special consideration when it came to choosing the designs to be used, particularly when choosing colours.

Colours have psychological impact on everyone, but this can be heightened in children that are hypersensitive to colour. A wide range of games layouts were chosen for the project. Some promoted movement and activity while others were tools for learning, such as the alphabet, time and numbers - but most importantly they were all fun!

On inspection of the playground, it was found that there were several very old and worn games that would require covering in order that the new games had the full ‘wow’ factor. It was decided that the areas for the new games would be initially underpainted using PlastiRoute™ Rollplast. This would then give a clean and fresh area to work with as well as enhancing the slip resistance of the playground surface. The games were made using the preformed thermoplastic, DecoMark™. DecoMark makes it quick and easy to create bright and stimulating spaces and the material has anti-slip properties to reduce the risk of slippery surfaces.

With DecoMark, it is also possible to create bespoke designs. For example, we were able to replicate the school logo to be used at the gate entrance to welcome the pupils and their families when entering the playground.

Geveko Markings’ experienced team all chipped in to do the application themselves, taking two days to complete. The staff at Yewstock School were thrilled with their new bright and engaging playground and could not wait to see their pupils’ excitement upon seeing the transformation.