Sofa Session A

Reimagining the Hard Yard: Designing Schoolgrounds for Inclusive, Healthy, and Climate-Resilient Schools Well-designed play friendly schoolgrounds are essential yet persistently neglected infrastructure, vital for children’s health, learning, and inclusion. This presentation reports the first national evaluation of play rights provision in Irish primary schoolyards, integrating policy review, a survey of 463 schools, GIS analysis, and participatory methods with children. Results highlight widespread deficits in natural space, shelter, and play affordances, particularly in urban and DEIS schools, despite policy commitments to outdoor learning, play and wellbeing. Drawing on international evidence the presentation makes the case for evidence-informed enforceable, standards and outlines key principles for designing inclusive, “greener” schoolgrounds with high play value.