Outdoor instruments bring sweet harmony to Springfield playground

​Traditional playground sounds of children shouting could soon be drowned out by something more melodic at one local primary school after the installation of outdoor musical instruments.

Youngsters returning for the new term at Springfield Primary in Sunbury will have noticed the school playground has undergone a makeover, after the school received a grant of £2000 from the Ernest Cook foundation outdoor learning charity to spend money on musical equipment to improve the school’s learning environment.

“It’s filled in a blank space in the garden, and the children love playing with the new equipment,” said Springfield’s music leader, Hannah Gregson. “We’re very lucky to have received such a generous grant and the instruments we managed to buy have proved a huge hit.”

Springfield Primary is a member of the GLF Schools group, a Surrey-based multi-academy trust which runs schools across the south-east of England, and music has long played a prominent role in its curriculum.

In recent times, Springfield’s choir has performed at London’s O2 Arena, the Royal Albert Hall and Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, and now the new playground equipment means music will no longer just be confined to indoor areas.

“Making and enjoying music is something that brings people together, and that’s precisely what the outdoor instruments are doing,” said Miss Gregson. 

“Children of all ages are sitting down together and playing with them, so they’re also having a real social impact as well as an educational one. If any visitors to the school wonder where the sounds of bongo drums, chimes or xylophones are coming from – now they know!”.