Highgate Plastics has been manufacturing a range of very practical equipment for big suppliers like the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation since 1982. It has specialised mainly in producing functional items for the art area, such as scissor and paintbrush racks. You may well be using some of its ubiquitous non-spill paint and waterpots or paint and roller palettes in your classroom today.

Taking a completely new direction, Highgate has now introduced a pleasant range of children’s furniture for ages four to nine. This amounts to a miniature sitting room, with a two-seater settee for sociability, a single armchair and a complementary “coffee-table”.

These are manufactured mainly of good quality beech, jointed with dowelling, except for the seat base, which is screwed in. Contrasting panels at the sides and rear of the seating are finished in a range of four bright colours or with a natural seal. Semi-circular patterns cut out of the panels and nicely-rounded corners to the end-sections give the suite a degree of style not often found in junior furniture.

The settee and armchair have foam-filled cushions with a jazzy, multicoloured, geometric pattern on a red or blue background, and the filling, fabric and finishes are all designed to meet current British Standards in terms of fire-retardant properties.

The table has a convenient magazine shelf for comics beneath a spill-resistant surface, again with a choice of brightly-coloured or natural finishes.

Because of its quality, the suite would work very well as everyday seating in the library or book corner, and would have obvious appeal for role play in early years classes.

Highgate Educational Products - stand 139