Cardiff Schools
Every healthy playground we create is bespoke to the needs of the school, staff and pupils, and provides an interactive welcoming space for outdoor learning. Two Cardiff primary schools we’ve worked with are no exception: Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pen-y-Groes (joint with Bryn Celyn Primary), and Windsor Clive Primary School now have greener spaces and edible playgrounds that are incorporated into the termly school curriculum.
Last year we engaged with both schools with the aim to equip them with the skills and knowledge to optimise outdoor learning and maintain their playgrounds. At Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pen-y-Groes, Trees for Cities held a dual language outdoor session where pupils learnt how to identify the new trees and existing hedging in the school grounds in English and Welsh. They explored the new fruit orchards and identified apples, pears, quince, and crab apple trees, and learnt how living willow plants are grown into domes and shapes. As well as playing inside of the willow sculptures, pupils were taught how to maintain these spaces and water them during the summer term.
Windsor Clive Primary School’s play area has been transformed into a healthy playground featuring fruit and veg planters and a beautiful pond, where biodiversity thrives. The pupil’s introduction to their new green space included a survey of plants, insects and animals already living in garden space, discussing the different habitats discovered. Groups of children have since visited to weed, plant new fruit and veg, and sow seeds for summer crops. The pupil’s connectedness to their healthy playgrounds has been reported in results from a Lead Teacher Survey, where 100% of lead teachers believe the projects are either very important or important to pupils.
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of schools incorporate projects related to their Healthy Playgrounds into termly curriculum plans