It's put the joy levels up': the flood-prone London school with a climate-adapted playground

The playground at St John’s Church of England primary in Barnet frequently flooded, leaving children unable to use the outdoor area and sometimes preventing dismissal from the playground. Rain pooled on grey tarmac because the school sits in a basin with clay foundations. A parent governor, Sarah Taggart, spearheaded a climate action plan and secured Department for Education funding for a larger project. Trees for Cities helped design and consult on the changes. The redesign removed some tarmac and created rain gardens with stepping logs so children could use the space. The rain gardens include soil beds with ornamental grasses, shrubs, and perennial flowers that also act as a sustainable drainage system, clearing excess water within about 10 minutes after heavy rain.

"The play area at St John's Church of England primary in Barnet, north London, used to flood so severely it was often unusable. It would get so bad that the children couldn't be dismissed from the playground, says Maccie Dobbie, the school's head teacher. We had to dismiss them from different parts of the school or, literally, parents were stepping into puddles to lift their children out of the classroom. Because the school sits in a basin with clay foundations, rain would pool on the grey tarmac and just sit there, often denying the children a proper break for play outside."

"But that started to change when one of the parent governors, Sarah Taggart, spearheaded St John's climate action plan. This school is in a high flood-risk area, so we were able to get [Department for Education] funding for a bigger project and take up some of the tarmac, says Taggart, who enlisted the help of Trees for Cities, a charity whose work includes planting green spaces in urban playgrounds to assist their adaptation to the climate crisis."

"You're taking space away from the kids, but kids are kids, it's got to be functional, says Alfie Davies, a landscape architect at Trees for Cities who led the design work and consultation at St John's. They have to be able to use it or otherwise they won't be interested or won't want to look after it. With that in mind, Davies installed stepping logs to run through the new rain gardens."

"Now the children can enjoy jumping over a soil bed containing ornamental grasses, shrubs and perennial flowers that also functions as a sustainable drainage system. It's transformed our area outside, says Dobbie. There is still some excess water when it rains heavily, but it clears up in 10 minutes. The project responded to the topography of the site, but also the wider challenge of heavier rainfall and much hotter summ"

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