Hunsbury Park Primary School
Hunsbury Park is an urban school in the heart of Northampton, providing mainstream education alongside The Nest, its Designated Specialist Provision for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.
As demand for specialist provision in the local area continued to grow, the school wanted to expand and improve the outdoor environment available to children attending The Nest. With the new specialist provision taking over the former EYFS outdoor area, the project also presented an opportunity to create a new outdoor classroom for Reception children.
Working collaboratively with the school, Phoenix Play’s Outdoor Learning Consultant Gemma developed two distinct outdoor environments, using her educational background to carefully design each space around the needs of its learners. One provides a calm, sensory-rich space to support communication, regulation and independence. The other offers a natural, engaging outdoor classroom where children can explore their interests and bring the EYFS curriculum to life through play.
The Nest: supporting sensory needs, communication and regulation
The school wanted to create a calming outdoor environment where children could feel comfortable, explore at their own pace and access a variety of sensory experiences to support self-regulation.
Communication was a key consideration. Communication boards were incorporated into the design to help children express their wants and needs outdoors, providing continuity between the classroom and the outdoor environment.
A carefully selected range of equipment and sensory experiences gives children different ways to engage with the space, supporting independence, concentration, movement and exploration.
Sensory experiences to support individual needs
The design includes a combination of physical and sensory equipment to offer different experiences and opportunities for regulation.
- Hazel Climber: Ropes and beams provide opportunities to develop focus, concentration, coordination and physical confidence as children navigate the challenges at their own pace.
- Infinity bowl, trampoline and swing: These offer a variety of physical tools for stimulating the vestibular and proprioceptive system to aid regulation. The rhythmic, repetitive nature of the items soothe the nervous system and support emotional regulation.
- Sensory pathway: using light, colour and sound and touch, the sensory pathway adds a range of textures under foot, light reflecting in through the coloured perspex arches, careful pops of colour and musical items to create moments of connection and focus.
- Communication boards: These enable the children to communicate in the outdoor area as they would in the classroom.
The layout was developed with the understanding that every child is different. Some equipment has been designed to be moveable, so the children can be introduced to further enhancements gradually and when they are ready.
The result is an outdoor environment that offers choice and flexibility, helping children develop confidence and independence while accessing experiences that support their individual needs.
EYFS: creating a natural outdoor classroom
For Reception, the school wanted a natural outdoor classroom with clear designated zones conducive to learning - giving children autonomy and opportunity to pursue their learning interests while developing the skills and confidence that underpin early learning.
The design incorporates opportunity for children to embed the EYFS curriculum and characteristics of effective learning in play-based outdoor classroom environment.
Construction zone
Loose shingle, a rope and pulley system, and weighing scales create opportunities for children to lift, transport, compare and investigate materials.
Through practical, hands-on activities, children can embed early mathematical concepts such as weight and measurement while developing gross motor skills, problem-solving skills and an understanding of how things work.
Sand play
Sand offers a versatile resource for open-ended exploration. Children can experiment with quantities, shapes and textures, develop early mathematical understanding and strengthen their physical, cognitive, sensory and social skills.
Small playhouse and den building
A quieter corner of the outdoor classroom provides space for imaginative role play, den building and mark-making activities.
These experiences encourage children to create their own stories, communicate with their peers and develop social confidence in a more contained environment.
Creative learning under the canopy
An L-shaped canopy creates a sheltered area for writing, drawing, craft and other creative activities.
By bringing mark-making and expressive activities outdoors, the space gives children new ways to engage with familiar learning experiences throughout the year.
Water exploration
A large collaborative water play area invites children to investigate how water moves. Here they can experiment with flow on the damming table to exploring gravity and flow on the water walls.
Mud kitchen
The mud kitchen provides inspiring and open ended opportunities for children to weigh their ingredients, mix, stir and create their own muddy dishes for their friends, engage with role play and develop their communication skills in this social environment
Performance zone
A dedicated performance area gives children the freedom to explore their performative arts side with the perfect stage backdrop.
Whether performing for their friends or creating their own activities, children can develop confidence, imagination, creativity and communication skills.
Physical play and movement
Our unique Willow Climber paired with the moveable Great Explorer blocks provide versatile opportunities for climbing, balancing, building and physical exploration.
These resources provide the perfect combination to build confidence and self-esteem as well as the core, upper body and fine motor grip essential for young children to flourish in the early years.
Designed around the needs of every learner
A key part of the project was understanding that the two outdoor environments needed to serve different purposes while sharing the same underlying principles: encouraging independence, supporting development and giving children meaningful opportunities to learn through experience.
For The Nest, the priority was a flexible, sensory-rich environment that supports communication, regulation and individual exploration. For EYFS, it was about creating a natural outdoor classroom with distinct learning zones that encourage curiosity, choice and independent discovery.
By working closely with the school, Phoenix Play translated these priorities into two purposeful spaces that reflect the needs of the children who use them.
Positive feedback on the finished environments
Following installation, Chris, Executive Director of Estates, completed a walk around the new outdoor areas with a serving Ofsted inspector who supports the trust.
The feedback was extremely positive, with the inspector praising the design and quality of the finished environments and recognising how well they support learning.
This reflects the thinking behind the project: outdoor spaces should be more than somewhere for children to spend time outside. When they are designed around the needs of their learners, they can become valuable extensions of the learning environment, supporting development, communication, wellbeing and independence.
At Hunsbury Park, two carefully considered outdoor spaces are helping create more opportunities for children to explore, discover and learn in ways that work for them.
Two unique environments. One shared purpose: helping every child thrive.
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