We came recommended to Cowley Hill Primary School and began quoting for the redesign of their grounds early in 2025. Their brief was expansive, as they had the opportunity to transform four key areas of their grounds in one go.

This case study shows lots of ‘before and after’ shots, to really highlight the difference Setter Play made!

 

EYFS Play Area

Beginning with their EYFS play area, it was in need of a complete refresh, with the key aims being to make sure we delivered on the 6 key areas of the EYFS curriculum, enabling continuous indoor/outdoor provision, and boosting all-weather access to the grass area in the background of the picture below.

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After:

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After: The school chose our popular ‘Itsy Bitsy Bear’ EYFS climber, which combines free-form play with a traditional tower to add more climbing challenges. They actually upgraded theirs to have two towers, making it our first ever ‘Itsy Bitsy Berry’ design, adding our two-tower Huckleberry climber to the free-form section!

Before:

After: the huge mound was removed and a stone foundation was installed throughout, with bonded rubber mulch surfacing providing all-weather access and a muted, natural look.

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After: a key part of the school’s brief for the EYFS area was to have a reading corner, and they loved our design with book reading nooks and a storytellers’ throne.

 

Key Stage One Play Area

Progressing around their grounds, the school wanted to create a brand new Key Stage One area on an unused area of their grounds. This area had a huge grass mound in it, so the first step was removing that, which required lots of heavy machinery!

Before:

After: the newly opened space had artificial grass throughout, as well as a gorgeous rainbow-roof canopy to provide all-weather access to the outdoors, and a lovely sensory effect in the space.

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After: this picture shows how dramatic the transformation is!

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After: a new brick retaining wall was built, adding to the quality and new look of the space, with new timber picket fencing along the top to ensure safety when walking down the access road

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After:

 

Key Stage Two play area:

This area was particularly special to Setter, as our MD Jonathan installed this area in the early 2000’s – and it’s still going strong! However the school felt it was time for a refresh, and had the brief to create a ‘workout zone’ to help boost their oldest pupils’ health and fitness through play.

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Forest Schools Area

This area was completely inaccessible and very overgrown, and the school wanted to provide access and redevelop the space to create a new, purpose-built Forest Schools space, adjacent to the EYFS play area.

Before:

After: a bonded rubber mulch pathway links to three bridges that cross the gulley, with islands of surfacing with bug hotels, bird tables and tables for children to sit and work together in small groups.

 

Outdoor Classrooms

The final element of the transformation was to add two outdoor classrooms to the huge bank at the far end of the school’s KS2 play area. We developed a vision for two mirrored ‘chatterbox’ outdoor classrooms each with room for an entire class to learn outdoors. This might be my favourite bit of the project!

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After: steps up the steeper bank provide access to the higher side. The structures are truly head-turning!

This is one of the biggest projects we’ve ever delivered, and we are hugely proud of the work everybody put into it. The school were delighted!!!!