The Bunker at Rackheath Primary School

Rackheath Primary School is an ‘Outstanding School’ as rated by Ofsted in July 2024. The school is located north of Norwich and close to the beautiful Norfolk Broads. It is a one form Primary School that goes from Pre-School right up to Year 6 and anyone lucky enough to visit can see that the school is a warm, friendly and wonderful place to be.

The school has a very clear Mission statement and The Bunker fits this statement perfectly. At Rackheath there is a passion that children enjoy school:

"At Rackheath the children are at the centre of all we do. We work with our community to provide children with the best possible opportunities to enjoy school and achieve their full potential." 

The driving force of this is Chris Ashman the Inspirational Head who has created the culture that is clear to see today. Supported by his amazing staff, a brilliant PTFA, the Governors and all of the parents and carers, Chris has been able to make something special happen at the school. To have something built of this scale requires everyone pulling in the same direction and a very strong PTFA who raises money at various events throughout the year. Added to this the school had an amount of money donated to them linked to the WW II airfield close to the school. The pre-school is called the Preschool Bombers in honour of this.

The brief was to create an adventure playground into the existing amphitheatre space, which was essentially a mound of earth in the shape of an amphitheatre that children played on when it was dry. Chris and his team were keen that the surfacing was carefully thought about in this build and the drainage as rainwater would gather at this point and then the space would become impossible to use.

We utilised the schools connection to the local WW II airfield, and developed a themed design called ‘The Bunker.’ Taking inspiration from the iconic Anderson Shelter we created a control tower as the central feature of the site. There are two main bridges connecting to the tower along with various routes to navigate including two hidden tunnels, allowing the children to crawl, climb and discover. Anyone who climbs up to the highest point has a wonderful view of the school, the playground and the field.

 Now complete, the build has had a fantastic response from the students. The new playground has had a huge impact on the whole school community already. The French Drain and surfacing has enabled this space to be used all year round. 

 The new play area will allow the children to take safe risk when they play and encourage them to be active and inventive in their play. Chris and his team know that happy, active children make the best learners and when the children return from break or lunch they will have had the best time outside and be in the best possible frame of mind to learn.