New Playground Tackles Bullies

Increasing reports of anti-social behaviour have highlighted an alarming trend in the number of school children being picked on by bullies at playtime. The charity Learning Through Landscapes has blamed “break-time boredom” and lack of stimulating activities for children who have nothing better to do than pick on other pupils. 

TigerTurf, the UK’s leading artificial turf manufacturer, has recently launched a new school surface, TigerTurf:LIFE at St George’s School in Birmingham. The aim of the new brightly coloured sports surface is to provide a more sociable and interesting area for children to play sports and games. The emphasis is on inclusion allowing all children to have fun together.

Since the completion of the surface, teachers have noted a marked improvement in the behaviour of the pupils.

Jan Edwards, Headmistress of St George’s School, said

“It has given children a chance to challenge themselves in new ways, the increased range of sports we are able to offer allows them to grow their self-confidence and social skills through activity and play. This prevents them from taking out their frustrations and boredom on other children.”

“Even when the emphasis is not on competitive sport, the children still enjoy using the area to socialise, making use of the hop-scotch area and having good inclusive fun together.”

TigerTurf who is a member of the Youth Sport Trust Business Honours Club on this project is planning more LIFE surfaces in schools across the country. Each surface will be designed around the specific needs of each school and TigerTurf offer a long-term commitment to the school after the surface has been installed.