Thomas Wolsey Ormiston Academy Playground Project
Thomas Wolsey Ormiston Academy is located in Suffolk and is a school for students aged 3-16 with physical, medical and/or sensory needs and associated learning difficulties. The school has a generous size playground with parts which were previously inaccessible to pupils and with very few engaging features for students to explore.
The playground redevelopment project was funded by the GeeWizz Charity Foundation, from the Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk Legacy Auction and a generous donation by Tru7Group. The school’s ambition was to raise enough money for a new canopy to extend outdoor learning opportunities and a Multi-Use Games Area to provide a space for ball games. With the help of GeeWizz the school was able to develop their school ground way beyond the initial plan.
I was brought on board to design the playground and my intent was to provide a wide range of environments for the students to engage with. Celebrating the Suffolk landscape the idea was to bring the coast, woodland and a farm to the students at Thomas Wolsey. We created a beach area lined with colourful beach huts, a sunken sandpit and water play as well as an ice-cream kiosk for pretend play. The overgrown and redundant vegetable garden was turned into an accessible growing area and by following a ‘discovery path’ students journey over a bridge and past mounds with crawl tunnels through to reach the Forest, in which we planted new trees and added an interactive light tunnel. In addition to two large canopies, a Multi-Use Games Area, a sunken wheelchair trampoline and a wheelchair carousel, a sensory garden was also created which included water, reflective surfaces and tactile experiences.
The generosity of local businesses including Tru7Group, Hudson Group, Barcham Trees and TMJ Interiors was incredible and without them we would not have been able to deliver such a bespoke playground.
This project started before Covid and was significantly delayed as a result. The playground was proudly opened in the summer of 2022.
