NURSERY

Brooklands Primary School, London

2 min read

Brooklands Primary School’s Bluebells Nursery sits within the school grounds and benefits from its own dedicated outdoor space. Recently, the nursery extended its provision to welcome children from 2 years old, creating even more places for local families. As a city school in Greater London, it’s fortunate to have a generous amount of outdoor and green space – and the team were keen to make sure every bit of space was working hard for their youngest learners.

A returning Phoenix Play school, Brooklands had previously partnered with us on their EYFS area, and with another exciting project already in the long-term pipeline, it’s a relationship built on trust, collaboration and shared ambition.

The nursery garden was identified as an area with huge potential. As Co-Headteacher Emily McGrath explained, the space had been underused, with unsafe surfacing and little to inspire play or learning. The vision was clear: to transform it into a vibrant, welcoming outdoor environment where Nursery and Early Years children could explore, play and learn every day. Although the project was based in the Nursery garden, EYFS children also regularly use the space – and love it just as much.

Working closely with the school through a consultative design process, we created a truly flexible outdoor space. The design includes:

All-weather surfacing to ensure year-round access
Active play equipment to support physical development
Playhouse and Teepee for imaginative and role play
Mud Kitchen zone for sensory exploration and experimentation
Little Builders to encourage problem-solving, collaboration and creativity

A key priority was achieving the right balance between fixed and moveable resources, ensuring the space can evolve with current and future cohorts. The area was thoughtfully zoned while still allowing freedom, flexibility and child-led play.

The finished design supports a wide range of learning outcomes, including Physical Development, Communication & Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Understanding of the World and Maths – a complete outdoor learning environment where play and learning naturally intertwine.

“We chose Phoenix Play because, from start to finish, we really felt they understood what we were trying to achieve. They listened carefully to our ideas and goals, offering thoughtful, creative suggestions that showed how much they valued our vision. Their understanding of the educational purpose of the space really stood out, and they worked with us to shape the final outcome.”

The installation took place during term time, with careful planning to ensure safeguarding and minimal disruption. The installation team worked respectfully and collaboratively, safely managing the site and even allowing children to continue accessing parts of the space. Watching the diggers in action quickly became a highlight for the children!

“We are so proud of the wonderful space that has been created. The soft artificial grass and the movable climbing blocks have been fantastic for physical development, risk taking and imagination. They never get bored as they can create a new obstacle course every day! The mud kitchen has provided endless opportunities for sensory play, along with the playhouse being used in all sorts of imaginative play. I would highly recommend Phoenix Play to other schools, from the way they listened and worked with us throughout the process to their thoughtful and creative design, we really enjoyed the experience and with their help have created a fantastic learning space for our children!”

We’re delighted to have helped Brooklands Primary School transform an unloved area into a thriving, inspiring outdoor environment - and we’re excited to continue the journey together with a valued customer.

At Phoenix Play, we don’t just build playgrounds - we help shape futures.