Category Archives: Play

How can you acquire new sports equipment ready for September at 10% off the cost?

As part of Edventure’s 2016 Summer Sale we are offering all of our sports equipment for 10% off when you quote the code HH1007 on your order or at checkout before 22nd July 2016 (all orders must be completed by this date).

You can see the sports equipment that we offer by visiting www.edventure.co.uk/sports

Dart tennis cricket goal

We also have an extensive range of playtime games and equipment which you can see by clicking on the various category links below.

Active Play

Positive Play

Cooperative Play

Wet Playtime

Balls & Catching Games

Giant Games

To place an order with Edventure you can either:

  • visit our website at www.edventure.co.uk
  • fax your order to 01323 50 10 41
  • call us on 01323 50 10 40
  • email your order to us at sales@edventure.co.uk           
  • or send your order by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

Carriage is free on orders over £200 pre VAT.

What is the one activity that ensures that children become both socially adept and learners for life?

It was, I must admit, more than a little worrying to see an article in the TES this month which suggests that increasing numbers of teachers are becoming sceptical about the benefits of play when it comes to ensuring that children become learners for life.

Of course not all play is equally valuable, but there surely is no doubt that the most effective type of play is co-operative play.

Because we value positive play so strongly we have created a whole new section of our website which deals with a huge array of positive play activities.

Activities such as the Feber Mega 4-in-a-line and Body Knots are incredibly helpful in encourage co-operative play.

Indeed one of the benefits of this type of play is that it can help new members of the school become integrated both into the social life of the school and into the notion of co-operation as a fundamental part of school life.

From Jamanga to Parachutes there is a whole range of games that enhance social skills and enhance children’s physical and mental development

You can see the whole range of our co-operative play games in our online catalogue

And, as always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk         
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

Quote HH0515 when you place your order and we will deliver it for FREE!

Preparing your pupils for the Euros: multipack footballs and football equipment

Celebrating the Euros at school is a great way to get those pupils who are disinterested in football enthused with the sport. Why? Because the Euros isn’t just about football, it is about passion, competition, patriotism, celebration, team spirit, community cohesion and more.

To support you in celebrating the Euros at school with your pupils, we have devised a number of football and football equipment multipacks with savings, including:

A pack of three Size 3 Elephant Skin Footballs £26.85 + VAT (You Save: £3.00)

A pack of six Size 4 Match Footballs £28.50 + VAT (You Save: £6.00)

A pack of eight Mini Footballs £19.50 + VAT (You Save: £2.50)

A pack of 12 Soft Small Footballs £14.95 + VAT (You Save: £3.05)

A pack of two 180 x 150 x 120cm Football Nets £79.00 + VAT (You Save: £10.00)

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk        
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

Quote HH0515 when you place your order and we will deliver it for FREE!

Exceptional Primary Resources for Playtimes

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Play Therapy United Kingdom

Play and Creative Arts Therapies (APAC) – a complete information resource for therapeutic play, play therapy, filial play and creative arts therapies for anyone interested in helping children with emotional literacy, behaviour or mental health problems.

Email: ptukorg@aol.com
Telephone:
01825 761143
Postal address:
Play Therapy UK, The Coach House, Belmont Road, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1BP

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KIBLO

Coloured Building Blocks – Kiblo’s unique building choices stimulate logical and deductive thinking. Building skills are developed and then natural creativity released.

Email: sales@kiblo.com
Telephone:
01792 863331
Postal address:
NDA (Packaging Services) Ltd, P.O. Box 516, Swansea, SA8 3YN.

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MSL

Active Learning Place Mats – use a simple, self-checking method of learning and reinforcing Early Learning letter skills. They aim to speed up an automatic response to letter recognition, alphabetical order and rhyming patterns.

Email: msl@schools.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399017
Postal address:
Multi-Sensory Learning, Earlstrees Court, Earlstrees Road, Corby, NN17 4HH.

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First and Best in Education

PSHE in the Playground – includes enough games to last a full school year and includes games that are suitable for both key stage 1 and key stage 2 children. Most games can be taught to children in a matter of minutes.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

A free set of policies and briefing papers on engagement, play for all, wet playtimes, and behaviour.

3Children who engage positively with each other are the ones who are most likely to go through their lives being able to make the most of the social world.

As a result they are likely to be happier and more fulfilled, and more able to take up the opportunities that an ever-changing world offers, than those who don’t have this social aptitude.

Which is why my colleagues and I decided to call this week Positive Play Week – a Week when we can invite schools to focus on positive play, engagement, and behaviour.

As part of this we have created four free briefing papers and policy documents relating to positive play.  These, we believe, will be helpful to you and your colleagues in considering the range of potential that there is within positive play.

Specifically – the potential to enhance enjoyment and fun throughout one’s life, and to offer each child the chance of a greater level of personal fulfilment.

On our website you will find, freely available for download, policies and briefing documents for:

  • Engagement
  • Play for All
  • Wet Playtimes
  • Behaviour

There is no charge at all for these documents – we hope you will find them helpful.  If you do and you know of colleagues who might find these documents helpful, please do pass the details on.

The website contains a huge amount of information about positive play, including policies and briefing documents, ideas for activities, and a detailed review of why positive play is so beneficial for children.

Also on the website is information on how positive play transforms lives, ten things you can do to encourage positive play, and thoughts on how schools are making positive play a central part of the school day.

We also have information on how positive play stops bullying before it starts, plus a wide range of resources which are available from Edventure, who have kindly sponsored Positive Play Week.

I do hope you will have a moment to look at and explore the Positive Play Week website.

If you would like to send us photographs of your positive play activities that would be wonderful. And if you have any questions or thoughts you can get in touch with us:

Finally, I must return to our sponsor, Edventure, without whom Positive Play Week would never have come to be. You can find more details of the equipment they supply which supports positive play on their website www.edventure.co.uk. You can also request a copy of their catalogue by clicking here.

Jenny Burrows

Positive Play Week Coordinator

How can you help transform children’s lives through positive play?

The claims made for positive play are enormous – and the phrase “transforms lives” is one that can often be heard in relation to positive play.

But how does positive play weave such an extraordinary influence on people’s lives?

It works because positive play can take place in groups of any size, can take place indoors or outside, at home and at nursery.

Positive play can be a game of draughts or an outdoor game of catch-a-cup. It can involve a giant parachute held by a dozen children and used to flip an enormous ball or the recently developed Make a Move playground game where teams of four co-operate to keep a ball on a pad while walking from point A to point B.

In fact there are hundreds of different activities that promote positive play – and as many have already found, once children get the idea of positive play they will develop and explore the concept themselves, simply because positive play is more fulfilling than any other type of play.

To find out more about how positive play is different to other types of play, how you can actively promote positive play, and indeed, how you can get the nursery involved with Positive Play Week (9 to 13 May 2016), visit www.positiveplayweek.co.uk.

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On the Positive Play Week website you will find a wealth of information about positive play, including policies and briefing documents, ideas for activities, and a detailed review of why positive play is so beneficial for children.

Furthermore, you can request a catalogue from Edventure, sponsors of Positive Play Week, by clicking here and entering your details. In the catalogue you will find everything you need to create positive playtimes, not just during Positive Play Week, but forevermore.

And if your nursery already actively promotes positive play and you would like to share what you do, please do email the details, including any pictures (ideally as jpegs) you wish to show, to HQ@positiveplayweek.co.ukAs always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk       
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

Payment, either by credit card or cheque, is required with your order.

Five ways to make lunchtime supervisors feel valued and supported (and why this is important to creating positive playtimes)

A famous quote and an absolute favourite of mine is, “I was raised to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO”. However it seems that many others do not live by this principle where lunchtime supervisors are concerned.

This became apparent when playtime expert Therese Hoyle reported in an article that she is frequently approached by lunchtime supervisors who tell her that children often say “I don’t have to do what you tell me as you’re not my teacher, my mum even says I don’t have to do what you say”.

Other common concerns raised by lunchtime supervisors are that the children do not respect them, they aren’t communicated with enough (no one tells them what is going on), and they aren’t clear on the incentive and sanction system or any changes that are made to it.

So the question is, how can you ensure that your lunchtime supervisors feel valued and supported, and how can this enhance your pupils’ playtimes?

Therese Hoyle has compiled a list of five simple ways in which you can support your lunchtime supervisors and which will gain them respect from both children and their parents.You can read this article in full in our brochure which contains a wealth of information for creating positive playtimes, as well as an extensive range of playtime activities, games, and equipment.

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If the catalogue hasn’t arrived in your school for any reason, please do click here, enter your details, and we’ll get another in the post to you right away.

You might also be interested in joining in with Positive Play Week (9 -13 May 2016). More information about the week, including how your school can get involved, can be found at www.positiveplayweek.co.uk.

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk      
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

If you quote HH0515 on your order delivery will be free. Without quoting the code the charge is £3.95.

The most important factor in developing childhood happiness, confidence, and a positive attitude.

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The notion that there is one simple thing that really can make a powerful difference to the way children live their future lives is a notion that sounds very attractive.

But such a notion may leave you sceptical.  Life is, after all, by its nature very complicated.

And yet there is something that really can and does make a difference to large numbers of children: it is positive play. It has the ability to make young people happier, more outgoing, more confident, and friendlier, while also transforming the way in which they live their lives from here on.

However, although the phrase “Positive Play” is widely used, my colleagues and I have felt that positive play is something that is sometimes not always fully understood.  So we’ve decided to do something about that.

We’ve launched Positive Play Week.

It takes place on 9 to 13 May, and is an opportunity for you to focus on positive play in your nursery, engaging with your colleagues and talking with the children’s parents at nursery on the subject of positive play, engagement, and the benefits of both.

With this in mind I do hope you will take a look at our Positive Play Week website. There is a link to the website here.  But you may prefer to go straight to the nursery section here.

It contains a huge amount of information about positive play, including policies and briefing documents, ideas for activities, and a detailed review of why positive play is so beneficial for children.

There are also some ideas for the sort of equipment that nurseries can use in order to help children explore and learn about positive play.

I do hope you will have a moment to look at and explore the Positive Play Week website and then, if you wish, do let us know about the activities you and your nursery are engaging in to support positive play.

If you want to send us photographs of your positive play activities that would be wonderful. And if you have any questions or thoughts you can get in touch with us:

Finally I must thank our sponsor, Edventure, without whom Positive Play Week would never have come to be. You can find more details of the equipment they supply which supports positive play on their website.

Jenny Burrows

Positive Play Week Co-ordinator

What if there was one activity that could endorse the continuation of learning and development at playtimes?

To ensure that children continue to learn and develop at playtimes, it is important that they are offered a wide range of games, activities, and equipment that aim to develop an array of skills. From physical, cognitive, and social skills, to cooperation and team working skills.

The only problem with this concept is that providing a wide range of games, activities, and equipment can be fairly costly, so it makes sense that any that you buy for use at playtimes will develop a number of skills simultaneously.

One which ticks all these boxes is  Giant Mikado – a giant version of the traditional game of pick up sticks.

The rules are the same as pick up sticks but the large scale of the ‘sticks’ changes the game, making it physically challenging and thus improving children’s motor control and agility.

As the giant game is best played by working in pairs or teams, children will also have the opportunity to develop a number of social skills, including cooperation and team working.

mk

What’s more, we are offering £10 off Giant Mikado when you order from our website before 31st March. And for further savings, if you quote HH0515 on your order, delivery will be free.

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Or if you’d prefer, you can always place an order with Edventure in the following ways, but please note that the £10 discount only applies if you order online through our website:

  • by fax to 01323 50 10 41
  • by phone on 01323 50 10 40
  • by email at sales@edventure.co.uk
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

How can you offer your pupils a new and exciting playtime experience – each and every playtime?

Each pupil has their preferred playtime activity – talking, playing football, reading, or joining in with whatever the latest craze is in the playground. But for some, there is only so much talking, playing football, reading, and joining in with the latest craze that they can do.

Which is why Edventure has devised a Playground Pack, complete with 2D Boules, Big Hand Tennis, Catchtails, Cats Cradle, Flipsticks, Foam Flyers, French Skipping, Hoop a Peg, Koosh Balls, a Scoop Set, Plastic Stilts, a Shuttleball, Skipping Ropes, Soft Wall Balls, a Starball, a Springy Ball Game, and Twirling Ribbons.

So that you can offer your pupils a new, exciting, and varied playtime experience (each and every playtime) and create an environment where a different kind of learning takes place as they practise to perfect and broaden their skill sets.

Furthermore, we have also produced a free downloadable Game Guide to Starball so your lunchtime supervisors can be confident in introducing the new game to your pupils.

More free downloadable Game Guides can be found to accompany our playtime games, activities, and equipment at www.edventure.co.uk.

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk/
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

If you quote HH0515 on your order delivery will be free. Without quoting the code the charge is £3.95.

Saving time, money, and a whole lot of hassle when ordering games, activities, and equipment for playtimes

When a member of staff approaches you and asks for authorisation to order something, and a different member of staff approaches you the very next day for authorisation to order a similar thing – I can imagine that to describe it as “frustrating” would be an understatement.

For not only could these “things” have been ordered from the same supplier, which would have saved on both time and paperwork, but the school could have saved on the delivery costs and, in many cases, taken advantage of a bulk or wholesale discount.

And so it is for this reason that we are making you aware of our Bumper Playground Pack – so that instead of ordering different playtime games, activities, and equipment from different suppliers, you can get everything you might need from Edventure – www.edventure.co.uk.

By ordering everything in one go with our Bumper Playground Pack you will save £35.05 (14%), and this does not include the savings that you can make on delivery – which is free, by the way, if you quote HH0515 at the time of order.

The Bumper Playground Pack comes complete with 2D Boules, Ankle Skip, Big Hand Tennis, Catchtails, Cats Cradle, Diabolos, Flipsticks, Foam Flyers, French Skipping, Hoop a Peg, Koosh Balls, Lolo Balls, Mini Footballs, Plastic Stilts, Poly Playground Balls, a Scoop Set, a Shuttleball, Skipping Ropes, Soft Wall Balls, Spinning Plates, a Springy Ball Game, a Starball, Twirling Ribbons, and Whopper Hoppers.

Furthermore, we have also produced a number of free downloadable Game Guides, including Guide to Starball and a Guide to Spinning Plates, so your lunchtime supervisors can be confident in introducing new games to your pupils.

More free downloadable Game Guides can be found to accompany our playtime games, activities, and equipment at www.edventure.co.uk.

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk/
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW

Plan ahead for playtimes by checking the weather forecast (Met Office)

According to the weather forecast (Met Office) it appears that pupils across the UK will be spending some of their playtimes indoors for the next few weeks as cold, windy, snowy and rainy weather is predicted.

To see if your pupils’ playtimes could be affected by the weather, you can find a summary of the weather forecast in your region at the links below.

Central, Tayside & Fife Northern Ireland
East England Orkney & Shetland Islands
East Midlands South West England
Grampian Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders
Highlands & Eilean Siar Strathclyde
London & South East England Wales
North East England West Midlands
North West England Yorkshire & Humber

If in fact it does look likely that your pupils will be spending some of their playtimes indoors over the next few weeks, it might also be worth checking your school’s stock of wet play games, activities and equipment.

As wet play resources may only be used a handful of times each year, we have produced a number of wet playtime packs which carry significant savings compared to when the play resources are bought separately.

You can choose from our extensive range of wet playtime packs, which include:

Primary Wet Playtime Pack – saving of £14.95 (18%)
Junior Wet Playtime Pack – saving of £14.50 (17%)
Infant Wet Playtime Pack – saving of £14.35 (17%)
Classroom Favourite Pack – saving of £7.00 (20%)
Popular Games Pack – saving of £4.00 (17%)

What’s more, if you’re reviewing your current wet playtime policy, Edventure has written a policy document to support schools with this process. For a copy of the document, please click here.

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk    
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

If you quote HH0515 on your order delivery will be free. Without quoting the code the charge is £3.95.

What children do in wet playtimes has become an issue of debate among some parents. Fortunately a solution is easy to find.

Wet playtimes existed long before we became aware of climate change.  But climate change has made the chance of a prolonged series of indoor playtimes and lunchtimes much more likely.

Indeed, wet playtimes have now become something of an issue, with campaigning websites such as MumsNet and NetMums launching campaigns for schools to engage in what they call “more positive” educational activities on these days.

Interestingly, many of the ideas that the campaigning parent sites put forward are ones that we will all have seen before and which are well established in most schools.

However, because of the change in weather patterns Edventure has been at the forefront of researching and finding low cost resources that can be used on such occasions, giving children a break from formal education while offering stimulating and interesting activities.

As a result, we have a whole variety of wet playtime packs suitable for different types of school – and if you want an overview please do click here.

There are details of specific packs both in our catalogue and online – for example, the Primary Wet Playtime Pack, which has significant discounts against buying the games individually, includes chess, doodle scenes, draughts, frog hoppers, ludo, make a pair, pick up sticks, cards, secret code, shut the box, etc, etc.  More details here.

The Junior Wet Playtime Pack is aimed for use with older children, and once again is available at a discount on the cost of purchasing individual games.  You can see the list of games and an illustration of what’s in the box here.

Of course, there are always some games that children choose as their favourites, and we’ve selected the most popular of all the wet playtime games and put them in one collection – again with a significant discount against the individual purchase price.

Finally there is our unique Playtime Value Pack which contains the four most popular board games of all: chess, ludo, snakes & ladders, and draughts.  As before there is a significant discount for buying the pack rather than individual games.  Here are the details.

What’s more, if you’re reviewing your current wet playtime policy, Edventure has written a policy document to support schools with this process. For a copy of the document, please click here.

As always, you can place an order with Edventure in a variety of ways, including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk   
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk    
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

What’s more, if you quote HH0515 on your order delivery will be free. Without quoting the code the charge is £3.95.

We’ve sent it to you, but you might find someone will want to borrow it.

We have just sent you the new catalogue of positive playtime equipment from Edventure. This should be with you by the 6th or 7th January.

But there is always a chance that it won’t be there because

a) somehow it got lost in the post.

b) one of your colleagues spotted it and removed it for a quick perusal of the products.

c) the fact that there is a new article in the catalogue from positive playtime expert Therese Hoyle attracted the attention of a colleague who borrowed the catalogue to read the article, and then quite possibly passed it on to someone else.

Now if b) or c) is the case I would like to apologise sincerely on behalf of your colleague. You see, the catalogue is something that teachers do like to meander through, not least because of the many new ideas in it in relation to enhancing positive play, stopping bullying before it starts, and encouraging creative experimentation.

So if your copy is missing (for whatever reason) please do click here, complete your details and we’ll get another in the post to you right away. Alternatively, you can view our online catalogue by clicking here.

I do hope you will find the article and the range of ideas within the catalogue to be of interest. You can place an order in a variety of different ways including:

  • on the website www.edventure.co.uk  
  • by faxing us to 01323 50 10 41
  • by calling us on 01323 50 10 40
  • by emailing us at sales@edventure.co.uk   
  • by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

What’s more, if you quote HH0515 on your order delivery will be free. Without quoting the code the charge is £3.95.

The stage re-used

How staging can be used as part of an outdoor carol concert, and then indoors as the students serenade while the parents taste their mince pies.

When we first talked about our staging being used outdoors (as well as indoors for assemblies, drama, speech days, and presentations), there were, I must admit, some eyebrows raised.

But my impression is that the idea is catching on, and I’ve heard of a number of schools using our staging so that pupils and students can sing carols as parents approach the school hall for their indoor festivity.  Some have experimented with short outdoor nativity plays – which really mean the lanterns have an impact.

Outdoor events always intrigue students and impress parents, and with staging that is suitable for outside events it means it can be moved around easily.  You can even dismantle the outdoor rig and reset inside during the interval for the second half of the event.

It is because of new ideas like these that have developed in recent years that we ask schools that use our staging to take photographs of the results. 

If you take a look at our website I think you’ll agree that some of these represent really impressive examples of how our staging can be used in a very creative way. 

But many teachers and site managers have reminded us that the flexibility of the staging is not the only consideration when choosing what to buy.  You will also be considering how you are going to store it when its normal location is required for other uses.

Which is why we developed a stage system that can be compacted into such a tiny space that even Dr Who would start to wonder if someone involved in teaching hadn’t cracked the secret of using his famous “relative dimensions in space”.

In fact, in our latest designs we’ve now arranged matters so that a complete stage of up to 40m² can be stored in just 2m² of floor space.

Then there’s the lifetime guarantee. It is hard to imagine what might go wrong with staging, but if somehow in some unexpected way it does go wrong, the guarantee is there.

I do hope you will visit our website and take a look at what other schools have done with our staging. Just click on any of the pictures to enlarge it.  Click on the arrow at the end of the picture, and you’ll see more. And more.

There’s still time to order staging for your Christmas play and events – don’t hit the panic button just yet! A free, no obligation, professional demonstration is readily available, and we’ll show you how to maximise the space in your school hall.

If you would like to know more please do email me at sales@seatingandstaging.co.uk  or call me on 01302 741888.

Tim Gilson