As a small independent school for children aged 2 – 11, Essendene Lodge in Caterham, Surrey, has a playground area that needs to suit a range of ages.

A part of the play area next to the school’s reception classes is reserved for the use of the youngest pupils. The school wanted this area to work harder as a play and learning area, while being extra safe for tiny tumbles. The play area’s proximity to the school buildings means it’s the last part to be crossed by all the other children when they come in from the playground, and muddy or sandy feet were leaving tracks across it.

“The area was looking rather tired and uninspiring,” says Mr Haydock, Head Teacher at Essendene Lodge. “We really wanted to brighten things up without compromising absolute safety for the little ones. Ideally we also wanted to see if we could reduce little footprints inside the school buildings, but most parents will understand our uncertainty as to whether this would be possible!”

The school asked specialist flooring provider Tact to advise on the best solution. As well as providing safe play and fun learning, the new playground surface needed to be:

• bright, vibrant and available in the school colours
• non slip and anti-trip, even when wet.

 John Highnam is Tact’s Sales Director. “Several layers of asphalt had been used to patch the area over the years, with an uneven and rather unattractive result,” he says. Our solution replaced this with a level surface that answered all the school’s requirements. We even laid the letters of the School Badge into the surface – about as bespoke as a floor gets!”

The Tact team installed the new surface over a July weekend, during which time it was unexpectedly put to the test when a rainstorm hit on the Sunday. The need for the floor to be free-draining is due to the fact that it is sited in a slight declivity, so the rest of the playground surface drains through the area.

“We knew the floor tiles would be able to cope, but nobody else did,” says John. “I couldn’t describe it as a dry run, but as a demonstration we couldn’t have asked for better, as it showed how suited our flooring products are for this kind of use.”

Tact staff also stencilled numbers 1 to 100 onto the white floor tiles so that the children would be able to play while they improved their number skills. “We’re just thrilled with the result,” says Mr Haydock. “It’s practical, safe, fun and maintenance-free – just what we wanted in every way.”

For more information on Pedestrian TactTiles click here.