Wellbeing & Impact
Outdoor play and learning are part of how children stay active, build relationships and access informal learning every day. This page explains how we connect playground design and installation to GIRFEC and SHANARRI — so schools, councils and funders can evidence outcomes, not just outputs.
GIRFEC-aligned design · SHANARRI outcomes · Long-term stewardship
Scottish policy asks public services and partners to think in terms of whole-child, whole-community outcomes.
Outdoor space is not a “nice extra” — it is part of how children stay active, build relationships, regulate stress and access informal learning.
Playscapes Scotland deliberately connects project decisions to GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child) and the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators. That gives schools, councils and community clients a clear line of sight from capital spend to daily experience in the finished environment.
Film
How outdoor environments support the outcomes we design for — beyond policy slides.
Portfolio reach
Headline reach from our work to date — cumulative figures across education, early years, public sector partnerships and Scotland-wide delivery. On your project we align reporting to your success measures.
These are portfolio-level figures, not a guarantee for any single commission. We document how layout, surfacing, inclusion and supervision on your site support the indicators your board or funder cares about.
Sectors we serve
Different sectors need different evidence — but the thread is the same: inclusive use, durability, supervision, and long-term stewardship.
Outdoor PE, outdoor learning and social time — spaces that support curriculum delivery, inclusion and confidence. We align layouts with safeguarding, circulation and all-weather use so staff can rely on the grounds day in, day out.
Age-appropriate challenge, sensory variety and clear sightlines for ratios. Surfaces and edges chosen for heavy daily use — supporting physical development and calm, supervised play.
Greenspace, hubs and routes that encourage walking, talking and informal sport. Design that helps residents feel the place is theirs — supporting social connection and civic pride.
Framework-aligned delivery, clear documentation and whole-life thinking. Spaces must work for operations teams as well as users — drainage, materials and maintenance paths considered up front.
Outdoor rooms and shared landscapes for new and growing communities — places that support neighbourly contact and children’s independent mobility where appropriate.
Tender and funding narratives that tie technical scope to social value and outcomes — helping partners articulate impact to boards and funders.
GIRFEC · National wellbeing indicators
SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included) is Scotland’s wellbeing framework for children and young people. Under GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child), public services and partners are expected to show how their work supports these eight indicators.
For playgrounds and outdoor spaces, that means more than a slide and a fence — it means sightlines, inclusive routes, surfacing, supervision and maintenance planned together. Below is how we map delivery decisions to each indicator; every project differs, and we align specifics to your outcomes framework.
Compliant materials, clear sightlines, robust edges, surfacing suited to use intensity and Scottish weather.
Movement, active play and time outdoors — reducing sedentary patterns where the space invites participation.
Outdoor learning affordances — trails, graphics, gathering spaces — supporting informal curriculum and confidence.
Calm corners, quieter zones and inclusive routes so children are not excluded from the life of the playground.
Varied physical challenge and all-weather usability so activity is a realistic daily option.
Co-design with staff and communities; spaces that signal care, not afterthought.
Durable specification, maintenance thinking and sustainable material choices where the brief allows.
Accessibility, inclusive play and layouts that allow participation for different ages and abilities.
SHANARRI = Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included. Indicator colours follow familiar wellbeing wheel conventions used in many GIRFEC resources (decorative alignment — not a Scottish Government logo). Used with education and community outcomes reporting in Scotland. Use the links above or on each card to open playground-focused notes for every indicator.
Procurement and funding increasingly ask for outcomes, not just outputs. We structure projects so you can connect delivery to defensible narratives:
Our projects pages show how we connect usage, design life and whole-life value to the story behind each scheme — so boards and funders see capital investment alongside daily experience.
Design-led outcomes
The same pillars that underpin how we deliver wellbeing and impact — each with a dedicated note:
Share your sector, users and success measures — we’ll align technical delivery to the story you need to tell.