Rivers Primary Academy, Walsall – Playground Markings & Sports Surfacing

Rivers Primary Academy, Walsall – Playground Markings & Sports Surfacing

After a couple of days where the rain decided to stop play, Team Uniplay finally completed the installation of Playground Markings and Sports Surfacing at Rivers Primary Academy, Walsall, and what a transformation!

Sport Lead at Rivers, James Perrins contacted Uniplay as they wanted a complete make over of their playground, to ensure their children got the very most out of each and every break time. 

We were delighted to be asked to put forward our proposal and arranged to pop down and spend some time with the school and understand what they were hoping to achieve and how we could realise their vision.

They wanted to have a playground that the  children would engage with as individuals, small peer groups or as a class led activity, so with that in mind we set to work creating a design which ticked all of their boxes. 

The first element of the design process was to create a complete blank canvas by removing the existing playground markings utilising Ultra High Pressure Water. As with all of our processes, we carry this out ‘in-house’ with a dedicated Playground removals team. This is a great process to use as it is kind to the surface, environmentally friendly, and we carefully adjust the water pressure to suit each individual playground, leaving a lovely clean finish. 

With a blank canvas we were able to redesign how the playground is used to make better use of the space available. It gives us complete flexibility to create the dream playground design while completely removing old, faded and tired playground markings. Rivers had selected some particular games they wanted to include and were keen to see a sprint track and a specific sports area for PE. 

With this in mind we set to work and drafted 3 different designs and layouts, and after consulting with staff and children alike, there was a clear favourite! We had created a design that they believed would add real impact to their outdoor provision, and enhance sports and recreation time at the school.

Rivers had one extra request, they wanted to ensure their playground would be  unique and bespoke to them and their children,  so collaboratively we designed and added the full colour option for the sports area and sprint track using our Endurance Surface Covering. Endurance is an anti slip surface covering designed for areas of fairly high volume traffic and comes with a 4 year warranty. Uniplay utilise our Endurance product on many projects, from covering old markings to MUGA’s, sprint tracks and walkways. Endurance comes in a range of different colours to allow us to be completely creative.

The proposal was really well received, and Uniplay worked with Rivers to ensure they could not only have their preferred choice of design, but we could get it within budget too. A few tweaks late and we had sign off!

The removals and installation aspects were carried out simultaneously, and both the staff and children have had very high praise for their new playground, so much so, their sister school asked us to design their playground too; their proposal was signed off the very same day it was received!

We look forward to working with Goldsmiths Academy in the coming weeks.

Playground Markings and Sports Surfacing can completely change the aesthetic of your outdoor area, and are a great use of Sports Premium Funding.

If you’d like Uniplay to help transforming your outdoor space to increase engagement and get children more active at break times, please get in touch with one of our experienced team to arrange a no obligation site survey and design 0333 321 6699.