SCHOOLS
www.hants.gov.uk/school-landscapes
LANDSCAPE
PROGRAMME
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Leesland Infants School, Gosport
250 no pupils
A small, restricted site within a residential, urban area. The site is
dominated by a large, red brick Victorian building. To the front is an
all tarmac playground, to the back an Early Years area, to the side a
staff/visitor car park and a further tarmac area designated as a ‘no
go’ area for pupils.
Through the site evaluation process a number of concerns
were raised about the
playground. Comments made by pupils, parents, and staff
highlighted the following:
 It was within a generally cold, windy part of the site,
 It was next to a noisy, main road and a relatively busy public
footpath.
 Railings separated pupils from the surrounding public areas
and concern had been expressed by lunchtime supervisors.
 The playground was also overshadowed by the imposing
Victorian building which was out of scale with small Infant
children.
 The play opportunities presented by an all tarmac
environment were generally limited and favoured more
boisterous types of play.
In contrast to this, the evaluation revealed that the car park
occupied a prime part of the site because it was in a warm sheltered
spot, next to a quiet, traffic free lane. Along one side of the car park
was the hall/dining which opened out onto the car park via a set of
double doors. These were not in general use for health and safety
reasons because of the car park. A relatively recent single storey
extension for use by the Reception Year formed a further boundary
to the car park. In contrast to the main building, this was a more
child friendly building in both scale and design. Included in the
extension was a key entrance to the building. This was unused due
to both security and health and safety concerns.
The layout of the site meant that parents, pupils and their siblings
had to walk through the car park to access the Early Years
classrooms.
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April 2009
The whole site strategy, developed by the school and Schools
Landscape Programme, took account of these findings. It
identified the need to explore opportunities for:

Relocating the car park to the neighbouring Junior school or
elsewhere on the site.
 Redesigning the released, sheltered area:
as a play space to include opportunities for imaginative and
quiet play
as a teaching space which would exploit the links with the Hall
by creating an outdoor area for events, assemblies, outdoor
eating and waiting parents.
to provide a safe access route
 Utilising the ‘no go’ area, made safe by the new
arrangements, for play
 Redefining use of the existing front play space i.e. for
boisterous, active play and games
The school have begun to implement their strategy
Firstly, parking was re-sited at the Junior school. Next, in
consultation with a representative group of site users, a design brief
for the released space was prepared. This detailed what they
wanted the new design to achieve and could be used to explain
their intentions clearly to a range of people who would advise them
on different aspects of the project. The design brief was then used
to working with specialists, in this case a Landscape Architect, to
develop a design for the space.
Construction followed and a valuable outdoor learning space is now
in place. It is an asset which benefits all pupils on a daily basis,
year on year . In accordance with the brief set by the schools its
design stimulates imaginative play, social interaction and also
allows for some formal educational uses. It includes:


A variety of linked spaces, which provide the opportunity for
‘journey’ type play with a range of experiences on the way.
For instance wide paths, narrow paths, ramps, steps, timber
board walks, various shapes to step through and slots and
gaps to peep through.
Various seating arrangements e.g. some small sociable
groupings, others laid out to provide for a class or whole year
group.
A number of structures and features which can mean different
things to different children e.g. the elevated round timber play
structure can, to some children, be a ‘fort’, yet to others, a
‘fairy castle’.
Comments from school demonstrate how stepping back and
taking a long term strategic view has brought lasting
benefits.
"The process was invaluable as we gained a thorough understanding
of the whole site and the needs of the children before developing
our ideas with expert guidance."
The car park created
into a new play area,
including a quiet,
imaginative and social
play space and an
outdoor area for
assemblies and events