Schools Professionals Partners

The way you use, design and manage your school grounds can help you meet your aims for all aspects of your school. Before students, parents and visitors set foot inside your school they have formed their first impressions based on the external appearance. Are your grounds as welcoming, relaxing and inspiring as they should be?
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Secondary school grounds
Research carried out by Grounds for Learning into secondary schools has shown that:
·      The nature and quality of the outdoor school environment matters deeply to students of secondary school age.
·      There are educational, social, aesthetic, environmental and community arguments for improving secondary school grounds.
·      The process of helping to plan and implement school ground improvements can be deeply beneficial in terms of student learning and self-confidence, and staff development.
·      A better outdoor school environment can lead to positive changes in students’ attitudes and new resources for curriculum teaching and learning.
·      Student involvement in the process needs careful facilitation, in terms of ensuring sufficient pace; connections between consultation and implementation; communication between active participants and the wider student body; and appropriate roles for landscape architects or designers.
Developments in the grounds need to take careful account of potential challenges such as not meeting the needs of all students, or paying insufficient attention to the question of longer-term maintenance or the threat of vandalism.