Children playing with snug kit

British Forces Encourage Learning Through Play

19 January 2010

Sutcliffe Play a leading designer and manufacturer of children’s playground equipment is working, in partnership with Service Children’s Education to introduce SNUG into an increasing number of British Forces primary schools across the world.

SNUG is a revolutionary concept in loose parts play, designed to transform play areas into dynamic and creative playscapes, inspiring children to explore, create, discover and learn. The colourful kit, compromising nine, large scale, inter-related, flexible shapes can be reconfigured by children to vary their surroundings.

Service Children’s Education provides education for service and dependent children residing with MOD personnel serving overseas, from Foundation Stage through to Sixth Form.

The SNUG kit assists with meeting the agency’s mission to do this and so have introduced the kit to three schools in recent months. These include Akrotiri Primary School in Cyprus, Mountbatten Primary School in Celle, Germany and Stepping Stones, who share it with its feeder schools, St Andrew’s Primary and St Patrick’s Primary at the Joint Headquarters in Monchengladbach, Germany.

The kit purchase for these schools continues to build on the previous procurements of SNUG for St Christopher’s Primary School in Gibraltar, Tower School in Dulmen, Germany and Toucan School in Belize. SNUG is the result of a 15 year process of research and evaluation into the way children behave, react and play in specific environments by playground artists SNUG & Outdoor, a Sutcliffe Play partner.

SNUG was created to change these established patterns of behaviour by engaging children’s imaginations and giving them the satisfaction of being able to change their surroundings. It allows children to develop new ways of playing, encourages creativity, social interaction and cooperation. Nik Hoskin, Estate Manager for Service Children’s Education said, “We have been very pleased with the responses from our current SNUG owners and have been able to purchase three more kits for SCE schools. Two of the purchases were within school where standard play equipment was not practical due to space limitations or future closure of buildings."

“The kit based at our German headquarters has been in regular use since its purchase. They’re also sharing the kit with its feeder schools in the surrounding area therefore benefitting a wider age range as hoped. “Sutcliffe Play has made the process of delivery and training our teachers very easy. We’re delighted with the success of SNUG in our schools and will hopefully look to purchase more in the future.” For further details on SNUG visit www.snugplay.co.uk