Video Transcription

Before the canopy was installed the playground was very bare, there was no shade from the rain, or the sun for the children or parents.

We decided to enhance the playground with having a canopy. But from the outset we wanted the canopy to be as large as possible, so it could accommodate the maximum number of children.

We are also a Sun Safe school, and having the canopy installed enabled us to meet many of the criteria for the Sun Safe school accreditation. And we chose this because we thought it was the most aesthetically pleasing, and one that would also appeal to the children because at the end of the day it is their canopy.

We can use the canopy to play in and use it for hiding places or keep out the weather.

I was very excited because we could have some shelter from the rain because normally we would have to go and sit under the gazebo and it still got wet and this floor has just stayed the normal floor.

It gives an opportunity to sort of experience life outside of the four walls of the classroom for a start. It helps to engage them, to see it as an exciting opportunity to do their learning in a new environment, a different environment, which helps to keep them focused.

Throughout the day it is used as an outdoor teaching resource, very versatile, that is one of the beauties of it. A teacher can plan an activity outside and they know that they will be able to undertake that activity, whether it be hot sunshine, or whether it be pouring with rain, they will be able to undertake it because of the canopy. At lunchtime it is used for the children to eat under, and also to play under, so it is used the whole school day.

They were very professional, very friendly, they covered all the carpets up for us, which we requested, with plastic, and they kept me in the loop at all times.

And it was all done within a matter of about three months. We got the go ahead from the PTA just after Christmas, and the canopy was installed less than three months later in March, and it was installed to a very high standard.

The price was very good as well, which is another important thing when schools are budgeting.

When I first saw the canopy I thought it was really good because the next-door school doesn’t have it, we are lucky that we get to have it.

When I first saw the canopy I was shocked.

They were just very professional. I can’t praise them enough. I would recommend them, definitely.