Pennington Infants School in Hampshire add a New Planter Sail

Pennington Infants School describe their setting as “a family school, an achieving school, and a smiling school.” Part of what makes the school so lovely and the children so happy is their outdoor space.

Project Specification

Product: Maxima Sail™
Size: 4000mm x 4000mm
Posts:
- Slate Grey - RAL NO. 7015

The children enjoy reading with teachers outside, playing games, learning about nature and exploring independently. The new things that being outside allows children to experience, broadens their learning and is an important part of the curriculum.

It is of course important to provide the children with shade from the sunshine whilst they are doing all these new things. It is now even easier to add some shelter to your playground, without the need to dig holes or use any concrete at all.

The new Planter Sail has four planters, which can be used for planting flowers, or they can incorporate board game tops. The children can play draughts or chess and there are lots of options available. The shade cloth fabric sail spans the posts to create a lovely shaded area without the need to dig even one hole in the ground.

“Great, the children love it!”

– Pennington Infants School

Why we should encourage children to play outdoors and how we can do so

Our wellbeing is negatively affected by not getting sufficient exercise, leading to increasing numbers of obesity in children and adolescents. Children are not playing outside as much as they used to, curbing their contact with sunlight and thus the production of Vitamin D which helps to battle infection and keeps skin healthy. Sunlight also helps to manage the creation of melatonin which regulates sleep. Smartphones emit damaging blue light, which can cause headaches and eye strain. Blue light in the evenings can even restrict the production of melatonin, which in turn can make falling asleep very tough for some children.

So what is the answer to this slippery slope that we find ourselves on… More time outside!

Learn how schools can help their pupils spend more time outdoors over on our blog.

The simple installation means that costs are kept down and disruption to your school site is absolutely minimal.

If you would like to look at the colour and design options, please get in touch with us and we can talk you through the new Planter Sail range. You can also find out more about the Planter Sail by downloading the datasheet too.

The children now have another shaded spot in the playground to enjoy on the hotter days of the year. Perhaps you will find them making a den, reading a book or chatting with friends, safe from UV rays and with plenty of fresh air. We thoroughly enjoy working with primary schools, like John Wallis Academy in Kent.