Our 1,500m² multi-sport playing surface will be built over the summer holiday, ready for use during the Autumn term. This improvement project was postponed at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new playing surface, replacing part of the school field will give us:

• an all-weather, artificial sports pitch, 43m x 35m marked for hockey and football, with a 4-lane 60m running track, taking around one-third of the grass field;
• 3m high, light gauge mesh fencing to keep balls inside;
• low-spill lighting for all-year round use for after-school sports clubs with switched on/off time and day controls and 'app'-based switching from any mobile device;
• new planting, including trees to provide natural shade during summer months and enhanced bio-diversity along the southern boundary giving a net bio-diversity gain over the lost grass;
• community use to 9pm weekdays and 6pm at weekends to meet the requirements of Sport England while respecting the wishes of neighbours. We are working on partnering with sports clubs for children up to 12 years old.

Fielding's pupils will benefit from the new playing surface:

• at specialist clubs, before and after school, with more clubs being able to take place during winter months as a result of new floodlighting;
• at lunchtimes, including with of our community coaches, especially when the school field is too wet and muddy to use;
• during PE lessons every week, especially during winter months when the field is not usable;
• at break times, giving more space to play ball games, especially when the field cannot be used;
• after-school and at weekends, if they join any of our partner clubs.