A landmark report on the condition of UK schools by the Smarter Spaces campaign and Brian Lightman has found that more than 80% of teachers believe the learning environment has a notable impact on learners’ attainment, behavior and engagement.
Yet fewer than 4% of teachers feel schools are in an excellent condition with widespread concerns being raised about a lack of space, poor layouts and declining durability, particularly in newer builds.
The survey of 184 teachers across the primary and secondary sectors saw a consistent call for more storage space, increased natural light, writable surfaces and regulated temperature. Wider findings included:
- A clear desire from teachers to be more involved in the design of their schools going forward, and so too for learners themselves to participate.
- Only one in five schools have applied for additional funding to support the development of their learning environments, with just 13% of those who have tried being successful and 4% receiving the full funding requested.
- A call from teachers to being given more ideas on how they might secure additional funding beyond the Department for Education, including through crowdfunding and other online tools.
Alongside the release of the report, the Smarter Spaces campaign – powered by Dulux and with supporters including the CBI, TeachFirst and Academies Enterprise Trust – is also due to launch its Young Designers Competition 2016.
For a second year running, this will give learners the chance to work together, using their creativity and imagination, to radically redesign an area of their school. Entries will be judged by the Smarter Spaces Learner Teacher Council, who will choose a primary and secondary entry to be made into a reality. The winning schools will each receive £5,000 to help transform their chosen learning space according to the design submitted by their learners.
Matt Pullen, Managing Director of Dulux said: “It’s been clear to us for quite a while just what a dramatic impact the learning environment has on teachers and learners, and these survey results serve only to confirm this.
"It’s concerning, however, just how few schools have a really great learning environment and the lack of funds available to help them change this. We hope the report marks the beginning of a successful campaign to change this and the Smarter Spaces Coalition will be central to this.”
