“They built the school around an original 17th century manor house,” says Kieren Hasler, Lytchett Minster School business manager. The rural campus comprises a blend of traditional and modern architecture, which is part of its charm, and perhaps part of its challenge dealing with Covid-19.

Let science lead

Schools across the UK faced two lockdowns within the past year. It became imperative that they examine the safety of their environments. Through it all, Kieren says Lytchett Minster School looked to science to lead the way.

“The first lockdown was a bit of a shock,” says Kieren. The school was quick to follow the recommendations of hand washing and sanitising surfaces. As science understood the virus better, additional information came to light.

“Science made it clear,” says Kieren. “The World Health Organization and other notable scientists from the UK and around the world acknowledged that airborne aerosols could transfer coronavirus. Just breathing without proper ventilation could spread the virus,” says Kieren.

The school had a risk assessment taken of their campus buildings. They chose Rensair, a portable hospital-grade air purification system to solve their air quality needs, but it took some careful consideration to arrive at their decision.

The challenges

The first lockdown happened during spring/summer, which allowed for open doors and windows. “In the second lockdown it was winter and we had windows open, but students had to wear their coats in the classroom,” says Kieren. Still, the risk assessment identified spaces where fresh air could not ventilate. “So we had rooms we could not use because we couldn’t ventilate them with fresh air.”

They found they had two choices. “We could refrain from using the rooms and spaces that didn’t have access to fresh air because they presented a sizable risk for infection, or we could look for a solution,” says Kieren. It’s no surprise they persevered.

“We looked into different air purifiers and relied on science to determine which system fit our needs,” says Kieren. The school needed a quality air purifying system that:

1. Could service a large area
2. Could capture and also kill pathogens
3. Had powerful HEPA filtration
4. Was not noisy so they could use it in the classroom environment 

Why Rensair?

Kieren says Rensair was the air purifying system that fulfilled all their needs. Science also backed Rensair air purification. Top independent laboratories have proven the Rensair patented technology to be 99.97% effective at killing and removing airborne pathogens such as the coronavirus and other pathogens.

They selected Rensair air purifiers and placed five in critical locations:

1. Headteacher’s office with staff meeting area (major building)
2. Computer room (major building)
3. Hallway near photocopier (maths and science centre)
4. Main hallway, a busy corridor and congregation area (maths and science centre)
5. Large open classroom (maths and science centre)

Like many other schools and businesses, Kieren says they never considered air purification before the pandemic. “Air purification can be complex but it’s an important protective measure to have in place if we were to get the students back in school and keep everyone as safe as possible.”

Kieren also found that Rensair was effortless to use. “It’s as easy as plugging it in and turning it on and off,” he says. For a busy school, ease of use is important.

The areas that were high risk are now functioning to capacity, and there’s reassurance that Rensair air purifiers are contributing to mitigating the risk of viral spread.

Find out more

Independent Education Today and University Business, in partnership with Rensair, will be hosting a free live panel discussion on air quality in education:

Demystifying air purification
How to clear up your COVID mitigation strategy

Thursday, November 18

11AM (GMT)

Save your seat today:

The post Case study: Rensair air purification is the science-based choice for Lytchett Minster School appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The former health and foreign secretary was joined by the mayor of Godalming, Michael Steel, and mayor of Waverley, John Robini, to mark the occasion.

The two houses, Northbrook and Saunderites, have been introduced in the wake of Charterhouse’s transition to full co-education, with 170 new boys and girls joining year nine this academic year. While girls first joined Charterhouse in the sixth form in 1971, the school welcomed its first year nine and year 10 girls this September.

Each house overlooks the school playing fields and features 64 bed spaces across 49 bedrooms – 28 of which are en-suite. Brick-fronted and with raked roofs offering a nod to the gothic architecture of the old school, the buildings are equipped with solar panels and LED lighting in a bid to minimise energy consumption.

As well as a move to co-education, the beginning of the new academic year also saw Charterhouse merge with Surrey neighbour, Edgeborough School.

The school has also opened two new international schools, completed work on a new café in the centre of the old school, and upgraded its biology and physics laboratories.

You may also like: UK boarding schools remain top choice for Chinese parents

The post Jeremy Hunt opens new boarding facilities at Charterhouse appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The mayor notes that outdoor air pollution exacerbates the risk of contracting Covid-19 and of suffering the most serious effects, but the real risk of transmission is inside the school premises. The World Health Organisation’s latest advice on coronavirus places far greater emphasis on transmission from inhaled airborne droplets, rather than from touching contaminated surfaces. That shifts the emphasis from fomite cleaning and disinfection to air purification.

For schools, the need to improve indoor air quality poses a substantial problem. According to The Lancet Covid-19 Commission, schools are chronically under-ventilated. The likelihood of airborne virus transmission is amplified in crowded indoor spaces, particularly if people are in the same room together for an extended period of time or when enhanced aerosol generation is likely, for example, through singing, projected speech and aerobic activity.

However, budgets are severely stretched. Many school buildings are old with antiquated ventilation systems. Others are listed, demanding bespoke and costly retrofits. With expensive heating bills, any reluctance to open windows during winter is understandable. Data gathered through the Department for Education’s school Condition Data Collection programme suggests that one in six schools in England requires urgent repairs: competing priorities, such as structural repairs, may make a complete overhaul of ventilation an impossibility.

Fortunately, integrated ventilation systems are not the only solution. Portable air purifiers can do an effective job, either enhancing an existing ventilation system or working in isolation. The investment is just a fraction of what it would cost for an in-built ventilation system and, with products that can prove independent testing by recognised research laboratories, the performance can be at least as good if not better than their larger counterparts.

When making the case for air purification, the argument goes way beyond coronavirus. Clean air has been proven to prevent the spread of all disease and to prevent allergic reactions, thereby minimising absenteeism and promoting learning. What is often overlooked is its ability to enhance children’s concentration and capacity for learning. To quote The Economist: “More investment would be money well spent. Better indoor air boosts academic performance – maths and reading scores go up, and pupils are measurably more attentive in class.”

Education has suffered greatly during the pandemic. Post-lockdown, the priority for school governors is to keep schools open, while protecting the health and safety of students, teachers and their respective families. It’s a duty of care that no school takes lightly, and without additional mitigation to combat new variants, the risk of transmission will increase.

A recent article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has called for higher standards of ventilation in classrooms and cites portable HEPA filtration units as a practical option to complement fresh air. In assessing the risk of airborne infection with SARS-CoV-2, atmospheric researchers from Goethe University have demonstrated that air purifiers with an H13 HEPA filter can lower aerosol concentration in a classroom by 90% within 30 minutes. By deploying a unit that can process up to 560m³ of air per hour, a typical 240m³ school lab (larger than a classroom) would in fact have clean air within the same short time frame.

Air purification that combines HEPA filtration with germicidal UVC light both traps and destroys viruses and bacteria. Such devices are recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) committee, which emphasises the importance of independent testing and warns that “technologies based on UVA/UVB, ionisation, plasma, electrostatic precipitation and oxidation methods have limited evidence of efficacy against the virus and/or significant concerns over toxicological risks during application”.

The argument for clean air in schools is clear. Now, thanks to portable, hospital-grade air purification, so too is a practical solution.

By Christian Hendriksen, co-founder and CEO of Rensair, as published in The Headteacher

Find out more

Independent Education Today and University Business, in partnership with Rensair, will be hosting a free live panel discussion on air quality in education:

Demystifying air purification
How to clear up your COVID mitigation strategy

Thursday, November 18

11AM (GMT)

Save your seat today:

The post A practical guide to clean air inside the school gates appeared first on Independent Education Today.

All of this makes for depressing reading if you are planning a new sports facility for your school. It’s likely that not only will your project be delayed while your builders wait for critical materials to arrive, but the cost of the build may also increase significantly during the course of the project as demand for scarce resources soars.

As specialists in the design and delivery of premium tensile structures for the UK sport and education sectors, we can protect our customers from these increasing lead times and price rises. Our partner Sprung Structures, which is located in Canada, has a staggering 200,000m² of building materials stored at its two facilities.

With all the materials needed to create a bespoke tensioned membrane sports building already held in stock, they can ship the materials in three to four weeks from the date of order. Add four weeks shipping time to the UK and work could begin on your new sports building in just eight weeks.

The 40ft shipping containers arrive to site containing everything needed to construct your sports building, including all of the specialist tools. We even ship over an expert from the Canadian office to oversee the development and ensure the project goes without a hitch – it really is the faster and smarter way to build.

And because all the materials are already in stock, there are no nasty surprises when it comes to costs. In fact, the price you are quoted when you place your order and pay your deposit won’t change at all.

So, you can be assured of a high-performance sports building with a lifespan of 30–35 years at the original price you were quoted, regardless of all the disruption and delay being experienced elsewhere in the UK construction industry.

These unprecedented times for the construction sector come at a time when sports facilities are needed more than ever. If the Covid pandemic has taught us anything, it is the vital role that sport and physical activity facilities play in the mental and physical health of pupils, staff and the local community.

Keeping control of sports building projects, so they can be delivered on time and on budget, has never been more critical.

E: info@paragonstructures.com

T: 01225 618188

W: www.paragonstructures.com

The post Deliver your building on time and on budget appeared first on Independent Education Today.

In this blog, we’ll give you some ideas for fresh new ways to stimulate pupils’ curiosity and motivate them to learn.

Bridging the learning gap

As we start the new school year, it’s more important than ever that students have a positive environment in which to learn.

Here are a few ways to enrich your learning environment and make it more positive:

• Make it visual – Use visual learning cues wherever possible to help pupils absorb and remember facts.
• Immersive learning – Use lots of colour and large, vivid imagery to bring information to life.
• Think beyond the classroom – You can use any space in your school as a learning opportunity. This includes your corridors, stairwells and even communal spaces like halls and outdoor areas. Think about how you can stimulate discussion, invoke curiosity and encourage pupils to want to find out more about subjects.

Wall art for learning

At Promote Your School, we design bespoke wall art for schools that motivates pupils, stimulates discussion and inspires learning.

Our most popular types of wall art are:

• Timelines – Allow pupils to walk side-by-side with key dates in history, showing the chronology and impact of events.
• Maps – A beautiful and visual extra large map is a wonderful way to give context and connection to the wider world.
• Literacy themes – If you don’t have a dedicated school library, use your corridors to promote reading.
• Immersive learning– Floor to ceiling wall art that truly immerses pupils into a particular subject or interest area.
• Outdoor spaces – transform your outdoor space into a learning area, or hide unsightly fences and outbuildings

These are just a snapshot of the types of wall art we can design. All our artwork is customised to each individual school, so we can design pretty much any concept you can conceive!

A consultative approach

We provide a fully consultative approach, from start to finish. It begins with a free site visit to your school; this allows us to chat about your objectives and measure up your available space.

Then, we’ll put together a bespoke quote based on your needs and budget. We’ll guide you through the design process, until finally, the TADAAA moment; we’ll print and install your wall art at a convenient time for you.

We’re able to install wall art at weekends and during the school holidays to minimise disruption. We can work around your schedule and arrange an installation date that suits you.

Contact us to arrange a free site visit, or check out our case studies to see more of our work

The post How to motivate pupils returning to school appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Anyone who has been involved in a school move will appreciate the scale of the logistics involved and that unique frisson of excitement on the first day of term as 800 students arrive and you wonder whether, despite all the meticulous planning, anything will work at all. Thankfully, it did, and within a matter of weeks we felt fully and wholeheartedly at home.

Fast-forward another six months to March 2020 and we will all remember another moment of particular significance: the unprecedented closure of schools across the country as we entered the first of the Covid-19 national lockdowns. We know all too well the journey that schools have been on since then, with remote learning, segregated bubbles, Covid testing centres on site, contact tracing, students and staff isolating, CAGS, TAGS, ‘mutant algorithms’ and goodness knows what else.

Yet, as we begin the new academic year, and review the latest round of government guidance, there is undoubtedly a genuine and palpable sense of hope as we emerge from the shackles of bubbles, say goodbye to compulsory face coverings in classrooms, and are liberated from the endless rounds of contact tracing and hybrid learning followed by lockdown.

As we stand on the cusp of a new ‘new normal’, there is a huge opportunity to embrace newly liberated spaces, to rethink how our schools function and work, and to creatively reimagine educational life both inside and outside the classroom in a world unrestricted by bubbles.

Why space and facilities matter

We all know that inspiring spaces and high-quality educational facilities are transformational – that the environment in which students learn and interact with one another changes the way in which they learn and interact with one another. The cumulative impact of this over time is enormous. This is why, year on year, school governors and leaders across the country invest so heavily to ensure that their students can enjoy exceptional facilities, purpose-built to the very highest standards of 21st-century education.

I was thrilled to learn that our new school has won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) West Midlands Award 2021 and has gone through to the national final of the RIBA Awards to be announced in the autumn. Paul Baxter and Nicholas Hare Architects won Project Architect of the Year for their superb work on King’s High. Yet, aside from the gongs, it’s important to remember the fundamental improvements that inspiring spaces and high-quality facilities bring.

These can range from straightforwardly logistical matters (for example, we no longer need to bus our students across town to access sports facilities and swimming lessons, and we now have ample parking for staff and visitors), to the deeper impact on student and staff wellbeing, and the ways in which inspiring spaces can support and strengthen anti-bullying systems in schools.

At King’s High, our new inspiring spaces project is fully under way, developing and further improving our internal and external spaces. For example, we recently opened our new forest school for our Warwick Preparatory School students, complete with a new apiary for students and staff across our Foundation schools to enrich opportunities for outdoor learning. We’ve also opened new social areas within school, alongside a new quiet study and wellbeing hub, with chill-out spaces providing oases of calm and tranquillity amidst the busyness of the school day.

For me, apart from the more obvious benefits of our facilities, the fact that our new school is bathed in natural light, and both surrounded by and centred around open green spaces, is particularly impactful. Whilst the architectural decision to structure our main teaching spaces around a beautifully cloistered quadrangle may echo the traditional layout of the Oxbridge colleges, the value of internal green space providing a powerful focal point for our school community cannot be overestimated.

Consequently, we are more physically active as a school as we are able make the most of our 50-plus acre site, and more connected as a community as our new spaces – both internal and external – have provided greater opportunities for those all-important public moments (assemblies, social gatherings and performances).

Flexible classroom design and layout

When it comes to the mechanics of classroom design and layout, we know that we are at a moment of exciting change. Gone are the rigid seating plans in rows facing the front and the reams of gaffer tape separating teachers from students to maintain social distance.

We know, too, that the research fully endorses the impact that greater flexibility in the classroom can have on the quality of teaching and learning and on student outcomes. In 2014, for example, Park and Choi found that traditional classroom design leads to educational ‘shadow zones’, and provides an environment that only support the most able; the following year an important longitudinal study (Barrett, Barrett, Davies and Yufan) found that classroom design accounted for a 16% variance in student performance.

The latter study established three core areas that accounted for this: naturalness (light, temperature, air quality), individualisation (ownership and flexibility), and stimulation (complexity and colour).

Working from this research basis, we established a new classroom of the future staff working party at King’s High, led by head of geography Kirsty White, to explore further the complexities of classroom design and the impact that this can have on the quality of learning and outcomes. In September we opened two newly designed classrooms based on the ideas and findings of our working party.

Whilst we are deeply fortunate that our classrooms are flooded with natural light and that our designed airflow control systems can maintain an optimal temperature, we have chosen mobile Node chairs to provide maximum flexibility in layout, alongside writable paint or writing walls, with some added soft furniture and, of course, varied, bright, colourful and inspiring displays and decoration.

This will offer each teacher ownership and flexibility to organise learning and layout to suit the needs of every group and particular learning activity. With the added benefit of a technology-rich learning environment through one-to-one devices, we are excited by the possibilities of our very own classrooms of the future.

As the 2021 study authored by Cox, Warwick and Wood stated: “Classroom space is not a form of ‘container’ or a passive backdrop to pedagogical processes. Instead, space needs to be seen as part of the pedagogical endeavour itself, a flexible and everchanging factor.” This offers us a very timely reminder for teachers across the country as we begin the new academic year.

As we begin to emerge from the surreal parameters of our Covid world, there is a genuine and exciting opportunity to reimagine our learning environments and social areas in school to create innovative, flexible, forward-thinking spaces that inspire creativity and curiosity, and, importantly, support student and staff wellbeing.

The post Inspiring spaces and why they matter appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Follow some of our school wall art tips to help improve classroom wellbeing.

1. To welcome

The first of our school wall art tips is a simple one. Wall art on your school’s exterior walls and fencing gives a window into life at your school and makes your school an inviting place to visit.

First impressions and the way you present yourself counts. Well-designed wall art in your reception area can make that all-important first impression a good one. A friendly and welcoming reception area will make your visitors feel comfortable and at ease and more likely to be keen to come back in the future.

2. To inspire

Impactful wall art with interesting and age-appropriate content will encourage children’s natural curiosity and inspire pupils and staff alike. Wall art can be effectively used to raise pupils’ ambitions through carefully chosen, aspirational wording and images.

3. To inform

Bespoke artwork that showcases curriculum information can act as visual resources to support your pupils’ learning and encourage engagement in subject knowledge, for example, using timelines of historical events can reinforce class-based learning and open pupils’ eyes to the impact of key figures and events in history – a subject that is losing appeal among younger students.

Themed areas representing various environments can widen children’s understanding of the world around them.

4. To spark thinking

Inspiring wall art can stimulate curiosity and interest in the subject matter being depicted. Themed and curriculum-based areas can encourage investigation and deeper thinking as well as spark imaginations.

Stimulating wall graphics can be used to initiate conversation and discussion between groups of pupils and with their teachers.

5. To make your school more accessible

Using wall art to zone areas, for example, a computing themed corridor leading to the computing department/suite is a great way to assist pupils to find where they need to go and it also helps to get them into the right frame of mind for a subject as they wait to go into lessons.

Including way-finding information designed into the graphics can further support pupils and visitors to quickly and efficiently get where they need to be.

6. To promote your vision and values

Celebrate your school and everything that you stand for through visual boards that communicate your values and vision.

Values-based wall art is a great way to illustrate the meaning of your vision to your pupils and raise the profile of how you aim to help children to learn, grow and develop.

7. To reduce workload and add efficiency

Maintenance of your walls and creating displays can be both time-consuming for teachers and use more of your school’s budget than you may first think.

Professional, bespoke wall graphics last many years, therefore, reducing maintenance costs as well as giving more time back to teachers, allowing them to focus on what they do best.

8. To communicate your brand identity

Branded wall art is more than just your logo. It tells the world outside of your school who you are and what you stand for.

In addition, it creates a sense of unity and belonging and can motivate staff, children and parents towards a shared goal.

9. To add wow factor

In school we are always looking to create awe and wonder moments for the children. Well-designed wall art can add wow factor to your walls, which can separate you from the rest.

10. To raise a smile

A stimulating feature wall can help to make school feel like a fun and positive place to be and cheer up any drab and dreary area. Most of all, it can make pupils and staff feel happy to be in school.

Bring your school’s walls to life and explore our bespoke wall art options. You can call us on 020 7404 3400 or email info@promoteyourschool.co.uk

The post 10 ways to use bespoke wall art in your school appeared first on Independent Education Today.

A lot of those we work with have outstanding facilities, including one whose hall has such good acoustics, the BBC has used it for recordings. Another client wanted to improve public access across their split site, and in doing so they effectively brought a neglected war memorial back into the public realm. Clearly there’s a lot that independent schools are already doing to build good community relationships.

How much greater are the possibilities, then, when a school is part of a large, mixed-use development? We’ve been working with the Alpha Plus Group since 2017 and they are keen to invest in shared use that goes beyond the bounds of a normal school day.

For example, one of their schools will have drama facilities to be used by a nearby performing arts school and by the community. As well as the main theatre, supplementary spaces will include classrooms to use as green rooms and an assembly hall that can function as a foyer.

Recently, Alpha Plus have been looking at a very large development that will include commercial space, hotels, retail and residential. The benefits here will go two ways: the school will have access to everything around it – there are great possibilities for students in terms of work experience and training – and the community can access some of the facilities in the school.

Safeguarding will be a key consideration: you have to work hard to make sure the various areas of the site can be used safely by different parties at the same time. I think of it working like the layers of an onion, layering security clearance throughout the school and across the whole development.

We know that all school budgets are being tested, and if you’re planning a building project – whether that be new build or making more out of what you already have – then ‘planning’ really is the operative word.

Our most successful projects are those where we’ve been able to consult across the school community, with students, teaching and ancillary staff, senior leadership, governors, parents and neighbours. And if you want to make sure that your project is going to be useful to local school and local communities then you need to build those discussions into your programme too.

It makes good financial sense to have hard-working spaces and, where appropriate, to allow for use out of school hours and in the school holidays. I think of a flexible learning space as something like a ‘barn for learning’. If you get the acoustics right and the furniture right, then that space can be used for all manner of activities.

The benefits here will go two ways: the school will have access to everything around it – there are great possibilities for students in terms of work experience and training – and the community can access some of the facilities in the school

We are seeing a move away from having only separate, cellular learning spaces: most of our clients want some open spaces too, where free movement encourages different activities to happen. One school told us that having this mix of spaces has enabled their move away from teaching as ‘sage on the stage’ towards ‘guide on the side’, with teachers facilitating students in their independent and collaborative investigations.

Larger, flexible spaces – connected to a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces – also lend themselves to conferences, teacher training, holiday clubs and corporate ‘away days’ as well as working hard throughout the school day. I know I’d find an office team building day more relaxing and inspiring in a school like this, than in a smart hotel.

We are working with an innovative education provider wanting to re-think and greatly expand the notion of shared facilities. They are looking at a central ‘learning street’ design, where all the accommodation on one side will be shared between the school and the public (theatre, restaurant, gym, art spaces) and the other side will have learning spaces almost entirely for the school’s use. Although this arrangement wouldn’t work well with younger children, it could be ideal for a secondary school or sixth form college.

Another thing schools can be thinking about as they plan for a mixed-use future, is making better use of outside spaces. At a recent online conference we learned how the rise of TB in the 20^th century encouraged lots of countries to turn to outdoor classrooms, even in colder climates. Naturally this is very relevant to our current global situation, when once again the focus is on outdoor spaces for health reasons.

You might think those with acres of green space are at an advantage here – and of course that is great to have – but we’ve done masterplans for urban schools too, and perhaps those are the clients we can surprise most with ideas around using the outside better.

Outdoor spaces for schools used to mean Tarmac and sports pitches, but there is so much you can do – relatively quickly and easily in some instances – to make valuable areas for socialising and outdoor teaching.

Research coming out of institutes such as De Montfort University is also showing the benefits of biophilic design in schools, learning in nature and bringing nature to the indoor learning environment. How wonderful that studies are confirming things that humans have long instinctively felt to be right.

One more point relating to Covid is that schools have had to introduce fully digitised distance learning. As a result, everyone I speak to says the use of tech within the learning environment has leapt ahead by 15 years.

My understanding is that the best schools are taking the benefits they’ve found around the use of high-quality technology – excellent cameras, microphones and acoustics help greatly – and are blending that into individual responses to students’ learning. This is obviously work in progress, but I look forward to seeing how it will feed into community benefits in the future.

With so much to consider, independent schools have exciting times ahead; yes, challenging too, but there are a lot of very creative thinkers out there. My experience is that looking for ways to build community connections benefits everybody, and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

The post Mixed-use developments: schools of the future? appeared first on Independent Education Today.

In this blog, we’ll explore how timelines can transform your school, and improve learning outcomes for pupils.

Context is key

One of the reasons that timelines are such a powerful learning resource is because they give context. Specifically, they give pupils a visual guide to what happened, when, in history.

For example, students may have learned about the World Wars, but be unclear about what other events took place between them. Or, perhaps they struggle to place events by the century or decade in which they occurred. When trying to place these dates and events chronologically, timelines can make a world of difference.

Never forget

The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. So, when students walk your school’s corridors each day, flanked by dates and events represented visually on your walls, they’re likely to remember them.

At exam time, a pupil may think back to that large photo of Queen Victoria on the wall and immediately remember the dates during which she reigned. That’s the power of visual learning resources!

Get talking

We were delighted to see a post on Twitter recently from one of our clients: St Michael and St Martin Catholic Primary School.

Today’s RE lesson in Year 5 was learning about Christian persecution throughout history – we used our lovely historical timeline created by @PromoteYourSch to see what else was going on during that period 👏 x pic.twitter.com/YkvXukJRES

— StMichael&StMartin (@STMM20) May 13, 2021

This is a fantastic example of how to use timelines to their best advantage. Get your pupils active, walk around and engage with the designs. It’s the best natural conversation starter.

Contact us to find out more about timelines and Wall Art for schools

You can also view more examples of our work in the case studies section of our website

The post Why timelines are an effective learning resource appeared first on Independent Education Today.

St Edward’s School in Hampshire is a day and boarding school for boys with behavioural difficulties associated with their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH).

The school wanted a building that works in harmony with its existing Grade II listed original building and meets the requirements of its SEMH pupils. The new 631sq m. teaching block will include six classrooms, group learning areas and a sensory room.

Off-site construction specialists Darwin Group are due to start the work in October 2021, with completion planned for April 2022.

Darwin Group presented the opportunity to support the school in its carbon reduction commitments by designing a net zero building. The use of modern methods of construction techniques will also ensure minimal waste from the build.

Darwin Group are working closely with the school to achieve the benefits of a Passivhaus building – an energy efficient design standard that provides an almost constant temperature. This will ensure a comfortable and healthy learning environment, while minimising the energy demand of the building, significantly lowering the school’s operational costs.

The Passivhaus approved windows will reduce heat loss by more than 70% compared to existing double-glazed windows. External insulation will also be added to cut heat loss by 90%. An efficient heat recovery system has also been proposed to reduce ventilation heat losses by up to 90%.

Sally Webb, director of development at St Edward’s School, said: “At St Edward’s, we are committed to the stewardship of our environment and therefore carbon neutrality is a target that has a moral imperative for all of us and that is why we are delighted that the new build will be Passivhaus.”

Read more: New prep opens at Denstone College

The post Work to start on net zero modular building at Hampshire school appeared first on Independent Education Today.