

St Catherine’s is a vibrant catholic primary school in Swindon. We were contacted by the Nursery Manager, Jo Bailey to help re-design the Nursery and Key Stage One areas to meet the school's growing needs.
The aim was to turn the existing Key Stage One area into the new Nursery Area and turn the existing Nursery Area into a new and extended Key Stage One area. The aim was for both areas to provide a secure but exciting space for the children to play, protected from the elements and allow free flowing inside/outside play in both spaces.
The new Nursery area was to be positioned at the front of the school so needed to provide a wow factor for children and parents. We replaced and extended the existing canopies with a waterproof Timber Canopy that provided shelter for the entire Nursery area, facilitating inside/outside play. We also installed new 1.8m high timber Play Fencing for security and safeguarding. The existing surface was a variety of tarmac and block paving. We replaced this with patterned Play Carpet all weather surfacing to create a vibrant play space, we also installed Den Making Posts from which the Nursery team could hang sheets, ropes or flags to create different settings.
In the new Key Stage One area we extended into the adjacent field and installed a timber canopy to cover the area enabling inside/outside play. As with the Nursery area we installed a timber Play Fence to secure the space. We laid coloured Play Carpet with Play Grass surfacing and incorporated a Mound into the surface to add an additional play/seating feature. We also installed a Mud Kitchen to develop a space for messy, imaginative, and creative play.
Originally published Oct 26, 2021 4:10:52 PM , updated May 23, 2025
We are very pleased with the work done - please pass on our thanks to all the team.
The kids are loving the new play equipment and we have had lots of positive feedback from staff, children and parents.
And many thanks to you all - good job!
Ashton Gate Primary School
BristolA huge thank you from us here at St Laurence; the trim trail was installed in super quick time with minimum fuss and was very well organised throughout.
The two chaps were absolutely lovely and did a brilliant job. The children are super excited to get on playing on it tomorrow!
Thank you!
St Laurence-in-Thanet C of E Junior Academy
KentEveryday access to learning and recreation can present many challenges to those with a complex physical disability. It was really important to us to find a partner that listened and truly understood the outcomes we were looking for when planning our outdoor learning centre and Phoenix Play did exactly that.
Treloar School
Hampshire