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Inside school

This page looks at the design considerations for the inside of a school, from decor and furniture, to the way that spaces interlink and pupils move around the school.

"The Impact of School Learning Environments - A Literature Review" has been produced by the Design Council.  It covers many areas including systems and processes, temperature and air quality, lighting, noise, lighting, colour, classroom furniture and equipment, layout, display and storage, ICT, products and services, signage and communication.

Colour.  Several studies in "The Impact of School Learning Environments" suggest that we have a basic biological reaction to colour – that colour transmitted through the eye affects mood, mental clarity and energy levels. Whilst it is asserted that when an individual sees/thinks of a colour, certain reactions take place in the mind, the effects of these reactions and the possibility of consistency between people are much more debatable.

It is clear that colour is an important issue for children and much less so for teachers and parents in considering the design of a school. In ‘The School I’d Like’, lots of children mention colour and lots of colours – one 15 yr old student describes her school as ‘a giant magnolia prison’ and says, ‘I want colours’.

Download the Literature Review  for more details on the use of colour. 

Music and meditation can be used to help students stay calm and relaxed. Marsh Baldon Church of England Primary school discovered the benefits of both when they were forced to relocate to the Global Retreat Centre when their school burnt down. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4339239.stm  News report on Marsh Baldon School's move to the Retreat Centre. 

"Presenting the case for meditation in primary and secondary schools" by Gina Levete is a short electronic article about the benefits of meditation in schools. 

Furniture.

"Pupils don't want state of the art blackboards or expensive televisions they want comfortable chairs"  Rhys Corbett 15 yrs, from The School I'd Like

"A comfortable school with sofas and beanbags, cushions on the floors, tables that don't scrape our knees, blinds that keep out the sun, and quiet rooms where we can chill out." From The Children's Manifesto, The School I'd Like

Human beings are designed to move about and not to sit all day, add to this uncomfortable, cheap, non-adjustable furniture and it is not surprising that many children complain of backache. 

Adjustable Tables and Chairs Correct Posture and Lower Muscle Tension and Pain in High School Students Research from Finland that shows how adjustable furniture helped students adopt good sitting and standing postures and reduce muscle tension when compared to a control group with non-adjustable furniture.

Fidgeting tested as fitness tool is an article looking at research on a new classroom design that promotes movement of the pupils in order to combat obesity.  Using the latest technology, students could stand at their desk, or walk around listening to lessons on an i-pod.  Furniture was radically different to a traditional classroom. 

Balanced Sitting Posture on Forward Sloping Seat discusses the best seat design for maintaining good posture and avoiding back pain. 

Ergonomics for Children and Educational Environments is a website with guidelines, research and information about ergonomics.  In particular, advice on how to sit when using a computer. 

Your Back in the Future is an article on how school furniture is ruining our children's physical health.  Produced in association with Back Care, it calls for a radical change in the way we think about and design classroom furniture.  Contains research appendix for links to other research documents on classroom furniture. 

Teaching the Alexander Technique to Trainee School Teachers is an ongoing research project looking at raising teachers' and pupils' awareness of posture and good and bad uses of their bodies.  It discusses the impact of classroom furniture and how different spaces and activities impact on children's posture.  The recommendations of the project draw from Scandinavian experience, where many schools have adjustable furniture that can 'grow' with the child, ensuring comfort and fit. 

The dining room is an important space from two points of view. Firstly, educating young people about food and how to prepare it is an important task if we want young people to have an understanding of where food comes from and how to stay healthy.  Secondly, the dining room is a social space that can be used to develop young people's social skills. 

Many schools no longer have a working kitchen and instead get deliveries of cooked food which is reheated and served.  This has both de-skilled staff and impacted on the quality of the school meals available.  A fully functioning kitchen is able to produce healthier, better quality food.  The space and the skills and experience of the staff can also be used to help teach pupils in hands-on ways, although traditionally pupils have not had access to the school kitchen.

The DfES and DH worked together on the Food in Schools pilot project, part of which looked at the dining room environment in schools.  The quality of the dining room environment was been found to be important when encouraging young people to eat school meals.  Pupils preferred to eat in cafe style areas that resembled the High Street, rather than in the drab, multi-use halls that most schools have. 

Department of Health Food in Schools Programme - Dining Room Environment shows the results of the pilot project which looked at the dining room environment.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolmeals/story/0,15643,1442749,00.html Guardian article on school dining rooms. 

Transitional spaces are important.  If they are designed well they allow people to move about the school with ease, avoiding congestion.  They can also foster a sense of community when corridors converge on central spaces, literally helping people's paths to cross!  Corridors need to be bright and clean and wide enough to allow groups of people to pass in both directions. 

Space for teachers is often neglected.  Since 1st September 2005 teachers have an entitlement of 10% of their timetabled time for planning, preparation and assessment.  They need adequate facilities, such as desk space and internet access, in order to accomplish PPA tasks at work.  Teachers also need rest and relaxation facilities; somewhere comfortable to have their lunch and unwind in between and after lessons.  The following newspaper article details the steps one school has taken to provide facilities for its staff and attract the best new recruits to come and work for the school. 

http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1515633,00.html

Flexible classrooms.  Classrooms need to be able to accommodate different teaching styles from 'chalk and talk' with the teacher at the front of the class, to group working and more student centred learning. 

http://www.designshare.com/index.php/archives/38 This extract from a Designshare forum suggests that the idea of flexible space is controversial, but highlights the need for consultation with teachers in order to understand what their pedagogy requires.  Peripheral spaces, such as corridors, need to support learning by allowing 'learning conversations' to take place. 

www.designshare.com/Research/EEK/Ehrenkrantz1.htm Article written by an architect about flexible school design called "Planning for Flexibility, Not Obsolescence".

http://www.wwwords.co.uk/forum/content/pdfs/46/issue46_1.asp  'FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education' ran a whole issue on spatiality in schools, the way it impacts on individuals and on the relationships between them. 

http://brs.leeds.ac.uk/~beiwww/beid.html Education-line has a number of articles on the conceptualisation of space in schools:  The Stage Design of a Classroom, Gunilla Jedeskog; Reflections on the Signification of Space in School from a Life-World Approach, Eva Alerb, Jan Bengtsson, Maj-Lis Hornqvist, Tomas Kroksmark; Formation of Space in the Classroom Jan Bengtsson; Spatiality and the Place of the Material in Schools, Jane McGregor.  Click on 'advanced query' and enter search terms. 

www.edfacilities.org/rl/index.cfm National Clearing House for Educational Facilities is a comprehensive American resource with a section on School Spaces.

Wet weather facilities are often poor with children having to remain in classrooms during their breaks.  This could be improved by developing a special area designed for wet weather where pupils could mix whilst staying dry.  This may take the form of a covered yard which allows pupils to get fresh air.  Indoor activities would help to divert boredom. 

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