With winter weather limiting access to the school field for students’ exercise, play and social interaction,
Castle School identified the need for a new sporting facility. S&C Slatter’s athletics track and sprint straight construction has enabled the school to expand the curriculum and ensure year-round enjoyment of outdoor space.
Castle School, judged Outstanding by OFSTED, caters for children aged 3-19 with a variety of complex learning difficulties. With a commitment to providing a warm, caring and supportive atmosphere, with inclusion at its heart, the school provides a wide-ranging and engaging curriculum for its students.
Health, wellbeing and fitness plays a key role in daily school life, with all classes taking part in exercise routines each morning, alongside 2 hours of dedicated PE per week and further extra-curricular activities.
“It is essential that our pupils (all of whom have learning difficulties) have access to sporting facilities at school. Sport and recreation have huge social implications for our pupils.”
Jon Hewitt, Headteacher, Castle School
With the school’s sports field becoming particularly boggy over the winter period, access to the field for students becomes extremely limited, in turn restricting the students’ activities and exercise as well as social contact.
The school identified the need for an all-weather sports facility that would be accessible to students year-round, while expanding the sporting curriculum on offer.
With a wish to develop a curriculum that would enable all of the school’s pupils to engage in athletics activities, as well as to build a facility that could be used by the community, the school decided to construct a new athletics track facility.
The team at S&C Slatter took into consideration the needs of the school and pupils, ensuring that the facility proposed would be constructed with a surface suitable for year-round use, while fulfilling the school’s additional objectives.
S&C Slatter undertook macadam athletics track and polymeric sprint straight construction, with the 2-lane athletics track running around the perimeter of the school field.
“We felt that S&C Slatter offered the best brief as well as a competitive pricing schedule. It was very positive; the team were respectful of our situation as a special school.”
The new athletics facility was completed by S&C Slatter during the school holidays and handed over in early August 2020.
The track has already proven to be a great success, enabling pupils to partake in athletics activities well into the winter months, while developing social links with friends in an open air and safe area during breaktimes. The school has reported seeing more pupils out on the field, with outdoor PE now far easier to deliver – and less messy!
“It’s just great to watch the students heading straight for the track at break and lunch. It is very popular and we know that the students are benefitting greatly from it.”
Although being delivered during the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, the school’s headteacher explained that the school’s key objectives have been realised:
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic having some impact, both goals have been achieved and we look forward to utilising the track further when more restrictions are lifted”.
The school already has more plans for the track, which will be available for community hire, helping to generate additional revenue for the school. There are also plans to expand the track’s use within the curriculum and outside it, with a Bikeability program enabling pupils to safely practice cycling skills at school before heading out onto the roads.
“Feedback has been very positive from staff, pupils and parents”
We’re thrilled to see the positive impact the track has already had for pupils at Castle School. With plans to launch the track officially in when restrictions ease, we look forward to the facility becoming a wider community asset and developing the school’s athletics offering in the future.
With dedicated in-house expertise from design and planning through to construction and maintenance, S&C Slatter deliver specialist sports construction at a local, regional and global performance level.
Projects range substantially in size, complexity and application but all continue to embrace and exhibit the same attention to detail and commitment to outstanding personal customer service.
Find out more about our athletics track construction and exclusive new partnership with leading athletics track manufacturer Beynon Sports.
Call 01635 34521 or email info@sandcslatter.com to talk to our experts.
