A smartphone displaying the welcome screen of the ‘TouchWood’ questionnaire for play quality assessment, laid on a white surface.” This screen provides information about assessing children’s needs and their connection to nature, story, and curriculum. The app estimates that the assessment will take 9 minutes to complete. A pink ‘Start’ button is visible at the bottom of the screen.

With over two decades of experience in supporting schools, we have developed a Play Quality Assessment tool. This assessment is a brainchild of our design team’s expertise and passion for play and consists of 22 targeted questions specifically tailored to educational settings.

This insightful tool will help schools evaluate the quality and diversity of play value and opportunities their playground equipment offers to their learners.

Children playing on a wooden playground structure in school uniforms. Their faces are happy. The playground is set against a backdrop of a fence, greenery, and a cloudy but bright sky.
St Werburgh’s Primary School
Children playing on a wooden playground equipment, a pulley with a bucket in an outdoor setting on a sunny day. A stone path leads up to the playground water play area and a shade sail is partially visible. A building with wood panelling is visible in the background.

How do I use the checklist?

To begin assessing the quality of your play, you can access the Play Assessment through our online form. Once there, it’s as simple as observing your play equipment in action. Watch how your students interact with the equipment, assess the variety of play opportunities available, and ensure that every child is enjoying their time. A perfect school playground should invite a diverse range of ages and abilities, so we give special attention to inclusivity in our audit.

Once you’ve submitted your answers, we’ll reach out to discuss the assessment results. We’ll then provide recommendations on how to enhance your play space, drawing on the experience of our design team.

The impact of High–Quality Play

TouchWood playgrounds ensure that children reach a good level of development across all key stages. To understand how we achieve this, take a look at our Stanley Green Infant Academy case study, where we integrated practical cross-curricula subjects into our play zones.

We also offer Design for Real sessions to better understand the needs of your school or community. These sessions allow children and adults to participate and influence the look of their future playground. We recently delivered a workshop with students from Churston Ferrers Grammar School. This was part of our new playground project at Paignton Zoo, where the students built a ladder from a chestnut tree for the new play tower. These students will then have the unique opportunity to play in an area they had a hand in creating.

So, whether you’re looking to build a new playground or upgrade an existing one, our play quality checklist offers an easy way to ensure your play space is effective, inclusive, and fun.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your students’ play experience – complete the Play Quality Assessment today.

Want to know more about TouchWood play spaces for school settings? Discover safe and stimulating playgrounds for schools.