Joined-up design programme puts children first

This article originally appeared on the Future Online website as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) support programme.

The Sorrell Foundation puts pupils in the driving seat of designing schools for the future. Its architects and designers work with children and teenagers so they can play a vital role in making sure that the next generation of schools are fit places for learning in the 21st century.

“Tired,” is how Ellie Hopwood describes her school building. “Old” and “cramped” is 13-year-old Laura Jenkins’s view.

Manor College of Technology in Hartlepool is a typical flat-roof 1960s school, supplemented by prefab classrooms. It was built for 700 pupils but now there are 1,200 and it is bursting at the seams. Ms Hopwood is head of performing arts and in charge of pupil voice for the school’s BSF project. Last year she accompanied six of her pupils and children from other schools in the education authority to London to take part in the Sorrell Foundation’s Joinedupdesign programme which introduces young people to the concepts of design and puts pupils’ views at the heart of BSF.

The Foundation is an education charity and Joinedupdesign is tailored for schools involved in BSF and the Primary Capital Programme. The scheme receives funding from the government, with local authorities typically making a contribution towards a school's costs for participating. The programme's principles can equally well be employed for smaller projects such as installing lockers or improving signage in schools.

Its four-stage programme takes place over an academic year and the Foundation, which deals with 1,000 pupils a term, 100 BSF schools and half the education authorities involved in the capital programme, has a deep well of experience to draw upon.

Building on conversations with these pupils, the Sorrell Foundation has discovered 15 common issues:

Colour: Pupils do not want drab schools, they want calming colours in learning spaces but vibrant colours in social spaces. They also like areas to be branded with the school colours.
Communication: Websites should be easy to use with links to homework sites and information on events, clubs and up-to-date news.
Dinner halls: Pet hates are long queues, too much noise and not enough choice.
Learning spaces: Flexible spaces with good acoustics and good ICT facilities are popular.
Reception areas: Pupils want a friendly, comfortable reception area with space to display the work and achievements of the students.
Reputation and identity: They want their school to have a good reputation in their community.
Sixth form spaces: Sixth formers want a more “grown-up” area that is distinct but still integral to the school.
Social spaces: Pupils are fed up of having to spend their breaks in bleak playgrounds, they want more seats and sheltered areas and spaces where they can exercise.
Storage: Lockers are a big issue for pupils. They want a safe space to keep their belongings.
Sustainability: Environmentally-friendly schools that save energy, do more recycling and provide bike sheds.
Toilets: The number one bugbear for pupils who are sick of facilities that are smelly, with taps that do not work and are often places where bullying takes place.
Uniform: Pupils want a comfortable, hard-wearing uniform they can be proud of.
Furniture: A common theme was the need for sturdy, comfortable vandal-proof desks and chairs that can be adjusted and easily moved to be used in different arrangements.
Inclusion: The buildings need to be suitable for children with disabilities and welcoming to children of all nationalities and backgrounds.
Safety and security: Places to report bullying in confidence and security measures that are effective without being oppressive.

Tom Doust, the Foundation’s education manager, said: “Most pupils are very pragmatic. They want toilet doors with locks and sinks with running water and do not want to have to lug their heavy school bag around with them all day. They want somewhere civilised to eat and spaces where they can meet and interact with their friends. They are better than adults at spotting corners and areas where bullying can take place. They aren’t stupid; they visit other places which are comfortable and well designed and do not understand why their school can’t be like that.”

The Challenge

The first part of the programme is called The Challenge. Pupils are invited to the Foundation’s headquarters at Somerset House in London. They are introduced to BSF and the concept of them as clients of the scheme. They learn about design and are shown examples of innovative, exciting and practical designs at other schools. In the afternoon, they are taken on a tour of the South Bank and are encouraged to seek inspiration from the architecture of the Royal Festival Hall and British Film Institute.

Ms Hopwood said: “I went to London with a coach full of excited children, for many of whom it was their first trip to the capital. They were bowled over by the Royal Festival Hall. The head of technology had run sessions about building and design, so it was not completely new to them. A few of them came back with big ideas, but there were others who would pull them back. It was a good mix of inspiration and pragmatism.”

Andy Toone is curriculum director and BSF project director at Pleckgate High, an 11-16 maths and computing college in Blackburn. Like Manor College, the school has outgrown its building. Mr Toone’s pupils were equally impressed by the South Bank and decided that they could bring back ideas on lighting after seeing the British Film Institute building.

“The designers from the Sorrell Foundation helped open their minds to what is possible,” he said. “They may have started off being limited by their imaginations, but the designers showed them different ways to think about how space can be used.”

To round off the day, the pupils had a ride on the London Eye.

The Conversation

Back at school, both sets of pupils took part in the second phase of the project: The Conversation. They reported back on their day in assemblies and to the school councils and set about collecting data on pupils’ views and raising the profile of BSF among them. At Pleckgate, they set up graffiti walls and video booths.

The Manor College pupils had a meeting with the head and deputy and they discussed how their ideas for design could be used to transform learning and provide the best environment for a school of the future. At both schools the pupils voted on what was most important and the student BSF consultants started to pull together their priorities.

The Brief

The third phase of the project, The Brief, is about making sense of the data. The pupils generally go back to the Sorrell Foundation (although Pleckgate did this stage in Blackburn). In creative workshops and with help from architects and designers, they put together mood boards, such as the one pictured above, using drawings and illustrations, to represent the ideas they have collected. These boards are then used as a basis for the Pupil Brief, professionally published by the Foundation.

It is this brief that the pupils will present in the final stage: The Celebration.

The Celebration

The Pleckgate pupils presented their vision at a grand event at Ewood Park, the ground of Blackburn Rovers. This was bidders’ day when companies bidding for the BSF project met the schools and education authority officials. And the schools which had taken part in the Sorrell Foundation project made sure that their briefs were central to that process.

The pupils at Manor College made their presentation at the local further education college in front of the director of children’s services and later to the Hartlepool Partnership, including the mayor.

Tom Doust said: “The BSF and PCP projects are long processes with lots of hoops to jump through, but it is vital that the pupils are kept on board throughout. Their involvement must not end with the presentation of the brief. That is just the starting point of making sure that the pupil client’s view is central to ensuring the new buildings created are comfortable for them in their learning and social interaction.”

Laura Jenkins now believes that a good design can help learning. “Most of our classrooms are boxes, but if you have learning spaces which are different shapes, depending on what you are doing, you can interact with the teachers and pupils better. I liked the British Film Institute and the way different colours and patterns were used.” Toilets were a big issue with the pupils, she said. “There is very little natural light, the taps don’t always work and some of the girls wanted bigger mirrors.”

Both schools believe that the pupils have made a vital contribution to their BSF projects, but just as important has been the experience of being treated as a client, communicating with their fellow pupils and then making the formal presentations. The pupils valued their views being taken seriously and this is already reaping rewards. By reporting the leaky taps and the graffiti on the toilet walls to the right person, the Manor College pupils have now had them fixed.

Further information

The Sorrell Foundation