Are you a school looking to upgrade and update your playground floor material as part of your playground refurbishment project? The School Playground Company are here to make your choices simple with this easy guide to the best options for safe surfaces for schools and nurseries.
Bright and Colourful Playgrounds for Children
Playgrounds in primary schools and nurseries need to use colour and patterns to create an exciting, inspiring space for play and learning.
Vibrant Wetpour Rubber
Wetpour rubber is a great surface to bring fun and creativity to the playground. Using high-quality rubber with colourful pigments, we lay the surface while wet to cure it into a strong, shock-absorbent surface.
Many of our clients are looking for a unique, fun playground design, incorporating colourful graphics and other playground markings. Wetpour is the ideal material for this as the laying process allows for different sections of colour to make clean lines for the design.
Natural Rubber Mulch
Rubber Mulch is a resin-bound surface very popular with primary schools. The specialist surface engineering allows for quick installation laid directly over existing surfaces. Installations can use this surface to create a relaxing, natural-looking area because of rubber mulch’s bark-like texture and muted colour options.
Rubber mulch is a great safe surface for schools looking for a natural aesthetic for forest schools, nature-focused play areas, or gardens. Our wooden trim trails and other play equipment blend perfectly with the reds, browns, and greens of our most popular rubber mulch for playgrounds.
Colourful Artificial Grass
In the summer, natural lawns can get patchy and yellowed. Therefore, developers often choose artificial grass for playgrounds looking for vibrancy and consistency in their lawn or field cover. We offer a range of pile heights and natural textures to suit many different playground settings.
In addition to natural-looking surfaces, we also offer colourful and vibrant options that your students will love! You can also request inlaid rubber playground markings to add more creativity to your grass surfaces.
Safety Protection
Keeping your students safe on the playground requires a wide range of considerations for safety precautions and protection. Choose safe surfaces for schools with these options.
Safe Surfaces
Active Play equipment like agility sticks and climbing towers require a good level of safe surface protection to prevent the risks that come from falls. We always push for the importance of risk-taking and independence on the playground, but also know that protection is just as important.
Therefore, our safe grass and other safe surfaces are important to include in your playground design. Each playground requires a different level of safety to keep kids safe, depending on ground quality and the height of the equipment. While all of our surfaces for schools provide some level of safety, the best protection comes from rubber grass matting under equipment or shock pad underlays for artificial grass or play carpets.
Accessibility and Slip Resistance
Surface texture and ground stability are key to providing accessible playgrounds. Rubber mulch has a unique bark-like texture that makes it a perfect slip-resistant surface. The larger rubber pieces create a great tread for running or wheelchair use.
To create accessibility ramps between surfacing and buildings, we can install wetpour rubber ramps. Additionally, our outdoor classroom range comes with accessibility ramps on request.
Porous Surfacing
Porosity is important in safe surfaces for schools. This is because it reduces surface runoff and puddling from rain. Muddy, damp surfaces are common with the UK’s rainy weather, but these surfaces can avoid the risks of slipping and inaccessibility of the surfaces by working with the local water ecosystem rather than against it.
Key water-porous surfaces are our rubber mulch surfaces and playground pathways. The rubber aggregates let water pass through them into the groundwater system below. These surfaces are suitable for tree surrounds, providing access to the tree line for children to play while protecting the root systems and vegetation.
Budgetary Issues:
We know that sometimes school budgets may struggle to stretch far enough. Therefore, we provide only the best options that take this limitation into account.
Low maintenance
All of our surfaces are low maintenance. Minimal cracking or abrasion even with heavy play requires little maintenance beyond basic upkeep. In most cases, we recommend:
- Sweeping debris
- Inspecting and removing surfaces for stones or other sharp contaminants on the surface
- Low-pressure hose to clear dirt or mud
Longevity and Durability
Surfaces for schools should last for years for children to enjoy. Durable rubber or artificial grass surfaces can withstand wear and tear that comes from children playing, and even more strenuous activities like sports and PE lessons.
Planning permissions
Permeable surfacing like traditional tarmac or concrete can require extra planning permission that can extend the project and cost more money. This is especially true for installations in urban areas.
Safe Surfaces for Schools – Which Will You Choose?
Are you interested in any of these surfacing products? Contact our team with the handy form on our contact page or call us at 01455 412134.
