Friend need to know roughly how much a children's play area at her school will cost before she proposes it to the School Finance PTA.

Any one know? Any one done one for their school?

approx 4m sq on grass for age range 4-7 years – aiming for something similar to a pirate ship activity climbing scheme.

4m sq? Like 2mx2m? Not much room for anything there.

I think pirate ships are about £1k; Playdale stuff comes in at £3-4k plus. It's possible to install it yourself but takes a lot of parent power and time and it's got to be right for H+S

Try googling for play equipment or similar – there's loads of stuff.

Grants were available from the lottery and things like 'Playbuilder' but these may all have been dropped in the new harsh economic reality.

approx 4m sq on grass for age range 4-7 years – aiming for something similar to a pirate ship activity climbing scheme.

Anything above 60cm height requires a a safety surface. Bark may do, but owt else gets very expensive very quickly.

I know this isn't the same as what you are proposing, but we (I'm the Chair of the Parent Council), are putting in a trim trail at the moment.

Details here – http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/theta-trail-p454.html

This is going to cost £3,000 to buy and deliver, and a further £1,000 for a local landscape gardener to install. Prices are ex VAT.

Its a bloody expensive game. If she had to name a figure, I'd go with around £6,000 + VAT for that size of area.

A friend had one built at his pub and I think that cost on excess of 4 grand

Oh come on BBB – I know you couldn't believe it, but you and your friend need to accept that the Tories, along with their friends the 'Yellow' Tories, are now in government.

So education will now receive massive spending cuts to pay for the bankers created recession/credit-crunch :

Education sector in England braced for 25% cuts

The 25% cuts in eduction will effect precisely those sort of projects – capital spending and the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The children at your friend's school won't be playing or having fun for good few years now. Or at least not until this Lib Con government has been kicked out.

Your friend should be telling her children to enjoy this Christmas as next year the 20% VAT will probably lead to smaller/less presents. And their parents will quite likely not have a job.

But hey, it's not all bad news……the good news is – that bankers will be fine (the new Tory intake of MPs includes quite a few more bankers) So bankers children won't need to worry at all. And their places at their posh private schools will be I'm sure, perfectly safe.

Flippin eck GG. Who's salted your popcorn? 😯

I would have thought the answer to that question was self-evident geoffj ………..the Tory bankers who expect everyone else to pay for their incompetence and greed.

I'd be interested if you actually disagree with any of the points I made ?

Sometimes the truth needs to be said/remembered.

Things can get pretty pricey pretty quickly.
We (the ptfa) paid for a climbing wall to be moved last year at a cost of just over a grand as it was cheaper than replacing it.
a pirate boat at just over a grand
benches with board games on top at over £500 a piece x4,
and a bench at £900 this year.
It gets crazy, whats wrong with an old football and a cricket set for the summer, like we used to use when I was at school?

I don't disagree, I'm just a little bemused with the context of your rant.

From WCA's post it would appear that his friend was approaching the PTA, not the school for the money. If that is the case, whilst your little rant may be factually correct, it's not directly relevant to the OP's request for information.

😉

It's not a "rant". Just pointing out how things now stand – why would it be a rant ?

If the funding was indeed to be provided solely by the PTA, then I believe those facts to be still relevant. Because as capital spending and the Building Schools for the Future programme will be receiving massive cuts, then if the PTA has that sort of money kicking around, then they need to keep it for school buildings, furniture, etc. I'm just offering a reality check.

The children at your friend's school won't be playing or having fun for good few years now. Or at least not until this Lib Con government has been kicked out.

So pray tell, when they get kicked out, what will any other government do to address the gap in public finances? Or is it just that you're assuming they'll be kicked out in 5 years time, which is just about the point they'll have addressed the mess they were left, and there might finally be a bit more money to spare.

4m sq doesn't give you very much space at all, when you consider that equipment with a fall height of 600mm-1500mm will need a fall space of 1500mm from the extremities of the equipment.
If it's going into grass you can put SAFAGRASS around it, which is basically rubber matting that the grass grows through and gives you a fall height upto 3m. TECHNIX
Try here API-PLAY, it's the Association of Play Industries, they have advice on funding, design, list of companies that all comply to European Standards EN1176(equipment) EN1177(surfacing).
You can always approach your District Council and ask about Play Builder and Path Finder funding, it's in it's final year but depending on where you are there might be some money left.

Edit: You could always go down the landscaping route, e.g. roly poly mound, tunnel, sand-pit which does'nt involve buying expensive pieces of equipment.

I designed quite a few pieces for this COMPANY

Or is it just that you're assuming they'll be kicked out in 5 years time

No, I'm not assuming that at all. I have no idea who will be the government in 5 years time. And I don't presume that in 5 years time there won't be sufficient ill-informed people who have forgotten/don't understand who was actually responsible for the credit crunch, to allow a Tory minority to again form a government.

of course it might not be a state school

of course it might not be a state school

Very true, but would they then be worried about how much it was going to cost?

It is a state schoool. My friend is part of the PTA and wants a rough idea of costs before proposing something they can't afford.

Thanks to the helpful poster on this.

Cheers

Nick

Check out a mate of ours, it'll be unique.
http://www.artistdesignermaker.co.uk/educationalspacesduncancopley.htm

No idea of cost tho'.

Check out a mate of ours, it'll be unique.
http://www.artistdesignermaker.co.uk/educationalspacesduncancopley.htm

No idea of cost tho'.

What is his first name? 😉

Fallen tree climbing thing looks great though.

Duncan Copley, his work is stunning.

If you had a bit more cash, I'd recommend this guy – the stuff he has done seems really great – child centered design of playgrounds, he gets input from the kids in the design process, then lets them play there for a year or so and asks them what is right and what is wrong, and makes modifications. End up with a much nicer end product than something pre-specified by adults, but I imagine he is usually working on larger than PTA budgets. He is a nice guy too, really passionate about making really fun, interesting places for kids to play, rather than the usual education value bollocks that people selling play equipment spout.

http://www.freeplaydesigns.com/index.html