Video Transcription

Hi, my name is Paula Chamberlain. I’m Head Teacher here at Hampton Vale Primary Academy. We are a large three form entry primary school and we’re situated in Peterborough.

As a school which has been growing substantially over the last few years, what we’ve found is that the sports facilities just haven’t been able to meet the needs of the school and the children.

We just don’t have the financial resources to actually physically build a sports hall. So the decision was that we were going to use our all-weather sports arena that we had built here and actually cover it with a canopy, so that we could bring our sports and PE provision outside all year round.

Children, we know, are so much better when they’ve had a chance to run around outdoors. It means that they’re going back into the next lesson really focused ready for their learning. So being able to come outside and get some fresh air not only supports their well-being when they get back into the classroom. We’ve found that actually the concentration levels are much better from being able to come outside.

And I think it’s just really worth noting that the investment as a school, it’s going to be here for years and years to come. So it’s not just our children that are here right now who are going to benefit from this. It’s the future generations that are going to come through the school will all benefit from the outdoor provision.

I’m Scott Collins. I’m the PE lead. The biggest difference it’s made to me is not having to change the curriculum. What we’ve written for the children for the whole year for PE doesn’t have to change and it always stands for them.

Our multi-use area was an all-use area, but now it can be an all weather area because we can use it all year round now, which is absolutely fantastic for the children for lunchtimes, for after school clubs. It can literally be used all year round no matter what the weather.

I really liked the design work that A&S Landscape sent to us. I wanted to be sure that the specification was of the highest quality. I asked if we could not have additional beams in the roof because I didn’t want birds nesting or balls being stuck, which I know can happen. And when I saw their design compared to other companies that I’d had come in, actually I was really impressed also with the overall visual and it just worked for us. And I’m sure you’ll agree, you can see the high quality of the product.

Our new canopy is great because we can get some fresh air.  And we can use it all year whatever the weather.

That beginning stage was certainly made a lot smoother because I had direct contact with one person. She actually remained in contact throughout the project.

The installation was delivered really effectively. We had really good communication as to when the teams were going to arrive and begin the groundworks.

Everything was delivered on time and they made us feel like the school was really safe and protected whilst they were on site as well.

Having the Canopy here at Hampton Vale has made a huge difference to our educational offer.

If I was asked by another Head Teacher whether or not I would recommend the Canopy and working with A&S Landscape, I would absolutely recommend them. I’m so happy with the product that they’ve delivered for the school. It’s exactly what we asked for.

We can still bring the children outside even on those rainy days because they can play out here as cold as it gets in their coats because they’re under the canopy.