School Grounds Audit & Action Plan

Practical strategies for better play, wellbeing and school grounds

Many schools know their outdoor spaces could work better. The challenge is knowing where to start.

Maybe there are spaces students avoid. Maybe supervision is difficult. Maybe maintenance costs keep growing. Maybe the playground is not being used the way you hoped.

The School Grounds Audit & Action Plan is designed to help schools take a practical step back and develop a clear, staged plan for improving their grounds over time.

This is not a full masterplan. It is a focused, strategic workshop designed to help schools identify priorities, uncover opportunities and stop wasting money on short term fixes that do not solve the real problem. For a fixed fee of $2,500 + GST, Debbie Laporte from Orterra will spend half a day onsite working directly with your leadership and maintenance team to develop practical ideas and clear next steps tailored to your school.

We help create school environments where students love to learn and play.

Who is this for?

This workshop is ideal for schools that:

Want to improve outdoor play opportunities
Are struggling with maintenance headaches
Need better supervision outcomes
Have underused or problematic spaces
Want a staged approach to improving their grounds
Need clarity before committing to larger projects
Want to make smarter long term decisions

What is Included?

A walk through of the school grounds
Discussions with leadership staff
Conversations with maintenance staff
Identifying opportunities and challenges
Reviewing supervision and circulation issues
Discussing play and wellbeing outcomes
Exploring practical short and long term improvements

School Grounds Audit

The workshop will identify:

Areas causing ongoing maintenance issues
Spaces that are underperforming
Poor play opportunities
Areas with supervision challenges
Quick wins that can improve outcomes immediately
Longer term opportunities for staged upgrades
Opportunities to improve usability, wellbeing and engagement

Action Plan & Summary Report

Following the workshop, Orterra will prepare:

A simple annotated plan with ideas and opportunities
A two page summary report
Suggested priorities and staging
Recommended next steps
Quick wins that can improve outcomes immediately
Quick wins vs longer term projects
Follow up online meeting to discuss outcomes

The report is designed to be practical, clear and easy to implement.

Why Orterra?

Orterra specialises in creating practical, engaging and nature rich outdoor environments for schools across Australia.

Led by Debbie Laporte, Orterra combines landscape architecture expertise with a strong understanding of:

School operations
Play and wellbeing
Maintenance realities
Supervision challenges
Staged project delivery
Practical implementation

The goal is not to create unnecessary work. The goal is to help schools make smarter decisions about their outdoor spaces.

Investment

$2,500 + GST

The School Grounds Audit & Action Plan includes:

Half day onsite workshop with Debbie Laporte
Stakeholder discussions with leadership and maintenance staff
Detailed school grounds audit
Annotated action plan tailored to your school

Following the workshop, your school will also receive a concise two page summary report outlining suggested staging, priorities, practical next steps, and a follow up online meeting to discuss the outcomes.

Travel outside the local area may incur additional costs.

Why Schools are Choosing This

Many schools find themselves constantly reacting to problems across their grounds rather than having the opportunity to step back and plan strategically.

Maintenance issues keep reappearing, supervision challenges remain unresolved and money is often spent on short term fixes that do not address the bigger picture.

This workshop is designed to help schools break that cycle by identifying what matters most, clarifying priorities and creating a more strategic pathway forward.By looking at how the grounds are functioning day to day, schools can make more informed decisions, improve student experience, better support staff supervision and develop outdoor spaces that work harder for the entire school community. Often, it is the smaller strategic changes that create the biggest long term improvements.