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Education
Show what you stand for as a school
The schoolyard is the school's business card and reflects what the school stands for. A good looking, well-maintained and stimulating playground attracts and shows quality and care. Through a proper schoolyard layout, you turn your schoolyard into an extension of the classroom. Our designs are in line with the vision that the school wants to propagate.
Multifunctional role of the schoolyard
More and more often a schoolyard plays a multifunctional and social role in a neighbourhood. The schoolyard is increasingly opened up to the area and serves as a central place for the neighbourhood next to being a playground for the school. Community schools and child centres, where childcare and primary education are facilitated, multifunctional neighbourhood centers with a central square where different target groups gather and where the library, community centres, nurseries and primary education are located. All examples of the changing role of the schoolyard. Our designs follow these trends and developments as we adapt them to the wishes and needs of the different users of the public space.
Not every child is the same
Setting up a school playground is more than merely installing playground equipment. The assumption that a public space should be practical, fully tiled and plenty of room to run and hang around is really outdated. Such an area would be great for some children to let go off their energy, but not every child is catered with this. There are children who prefer to chat and play in groups, dreamy types who want to withdraw a bit and children who want to roll up their sleeves and build up something constructive, be it with sand or leaves. When making an inventory of the wishes and designing schoolyards, we keep those four types of people (Energizers, Structure seekers, Builders and Observers) in mind. We also take into account the different age categories (toddlers, children and adolescents), eventual wishes for outdoor education on the schoolyard and the necessary play values in the playground equipment and allocated space. Not every schoolyard is the same, just as not every child is the same.
Green-blue schoolyards
More and more schools are focusing on a green-blue outdoor space, for more nature experience, exercise in the open air, sufficient challenge for each type of child and outdoor classes. A green-blue schoolyard also contributes to the biodiversity of the area, climate resilience in the future and sustainability and circularity. How do you integrate this into your schoolyard? We unburden the process from A to Z and offer assistance with both the design and development process.
Outdoor classes
The contemporary expectation for the role of a schoolyard is increasingly that the schoolyard is an extension of the classroom. Because why not also use the outdoor space for activities such as nature education, green experience and offering teaching material? Wonderful in the open air and acting as extra square meters for the education. This way, the outdoor space is also used as extra space to work on the growth and development of children. You can give classroom lessons on the schoolyard, but can also work on catching up on teaching material in smaller groups. The possibilities are endless and the schoolyard is the ideal venue for this.
Learning through movement
Children love nothing more than to play outside and active play is therefore the best way for them to learn. Learning through movement is the ultimate form of learning for children and extremely suitable for outdoor lessons. Unfortunately, teaching material is often offered indoors and the traditional classroom form of teaching is assumed where children are expected to sit still to absorb the educational material. In our opinion, active learning deserves a permanent place within the vision of schools and the timetable of students. The schoolyard is the ideal location for children to develop, meet, challenge, help and learn from each other. The ideal place to help educate children!
The outdoor space of a schoolyard offers enormous opportunities for extending education from indoor, to move outdoor on the schoolyard. This way, in addition to being a place to relax between classes, the schoolyard also becomes an 'extra classroom outdoors'. Teaching subjects such as arithmetics, language and spelling can be offered outdoors. By first offering the teaching material indoors and using the area outside, in the open air, to further learn the same teaching material. Learning through movement is also fun to do, for both teachers and pupils. An opportunity that should not be missed whilst (re)designing the schoolyard.
Healthy Schoolyards
Multifunctional Role Schoolyard
Trim trails
Green-blue schoolyard Dr. H. Bavinckschool.
From a tiled square to a schoolyard where children can play, chill, hide and/ or work in the vegetable garden. The schoolyard of the Dr. H. Bavinckschool in Dordrecht (NL) was overhauled. Their renewed schoolyard is dordrecht's first green-blue schoolyard!
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