Michael’s C of E VA Primary School in St. Alban’s purchased SNUG, the innovative loose parts playground kit following the discovery that they were unable to build on their playground.
Founded in 1811, the school is on the site of the Roman City of Verulamium, one of the most important English heritage sites in the country.
Annalise Peet from the school’s PTA says: “We had been raising funds to build a playground on the school paddock for four years. We were all very disappointed to discover that we couldn’t build on the site but we were determined to introduce new play facilities to the school so we all went away to do our research into possible solutions.
“One of the Governors saw SNUG and now we couldn’t be happier. We’re a two site school so the fact that SNUG can be moved around is invaluable as both sites get regular usage of the kit.”
SNUG, the colourful, durable and intriguingly-shaped play equipment was designed to transform school playgrounds into an adventure wonderland for children to discover, create and enjoy.
Sarah Hinchliffe, head teacher at the school adds: “It was lovely to see the children’s first reaction to SNUG. They were all very excited, and since then it has continued to engage them in new ways each day. It encourages team work, develops their social skills and sense of responsibility as they are in charge of the kit.
“We have used SNUG as part of the curriculum as well as at playtime to develop children’s imagination, creativity and interpretation of the PE curriculum. We also use it on Sports Day.”
Teachers and staff at the school took part in a training session with Ben Kingston-Hughes, Play Consultant and Manager at Inspired Training & Children's Services Solutions.
Ben comments: “The training was designed to give teachers a basic grounding in play so that when they are using SNUG with the children they’ll know how to maximise the benefits of play.
“A key element of training at St Michael’s was “loose parts” play because that’s what the SNUG kit is all about. The training is about adding play value and as the loose parts kit has so many different uses, it is important to encourage the staff and teachers to understand just how valuable this type of play is to children.
“By getting them to understand play and how important their role is in it, staff and teachers can have a profound impact on a child’s development and enjoyment of play.”
Head teacher, Sarah Hinchliffe concludes: “The training was absolutely brilliant and the staff all really enjoyed it. There was a nice balance of listening and learning about play, reflecting on our own play as children and then actually physically playing with SNUG to learn new ways of playing with the children.”
