Memorandum submitted by The Sorrell Foundation
The aim of the Sorrell Foundation is to inspire
creativity in young people and to improve the quality of life
through good design. It creates and prototypes new initiatives
to explore their potential before development, and seeks new ways
to join up public sectors such as education and health with the
UK's world-class design community. The fast-track nature of the
Foundation's work aims to deliver immediate benefits whilst creating
models with long-term value.
RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY
The Sorrell Foundation has two main recommendations
for action:
1. To make it mandatory to form a pupil
client team in every school undertaking a Building Schools for
the Future or Primary Capital development in order to engage the
primary stakeholder in the consultation process.
2. To ensure that all of the 12 common issues
identified by pupils during the joinedupdesignforschools programme
become part of the conversation for every school planning design
improvements.
MAJOR BENEFITS
WOULD ENSUE
FROM ADOPTING
THESE RECOMMENDATIONS
We believe the benefits that would ensue from
implementing these recommendations would be as follows: the pupils
will develop valuable life skills; the stakeholder engagement
will point towards a different way of learning; teachers and school
staff will gain professional development; early sample schools
will generate innovative, practical and scaleable designs for
schools across the UK; architectural and design practices will
gain first-hand experience of school needs.
1. GIVING PUPILS
THE RESPONSIBILITY
OF BEING
CLIENTS
The Sorrell Foundation was set up by Frances
and John Sorrell in 1999 to inspire creativity in young people
and to improve the quality of life through good design. Joinedupdesignforschools
started as a pilot working with six schools in 2000. After six
years of development with over 100 schools, the programme has
become a model showing how to give young people a say in the way
their schools are designed. Joinedupdesignforschools gives pupils
the role of clients. They work as a client team to create a brief
for a design project that will improve quality of life in their
school. A designer or architect is appointed to work for them,
and together they engage in a carefully tested process that leads
to innovative design concepts for schools. The process develops
the pupils' life skills and has generated a list of common issues
that pupils want to address, from improving unhygienic toilet
blocks to creating inspiring learning spaces. The Foundation is
producing a guide to using the process, and a pilot for a possible
further model, with higher education students in the role of designers,
is under way.
Joinedupdesignforschools listens to the main
consumers of education—the pupils themselves. By giving
them the responsibility of being the clients, of being their school's
representatives and decision-makers, they experience a situation
that teaches them skills such as communication, teamwork, negotiation
and problem-solving. The key to this learning is the development
of the pupils' relationship with their consultants, the designers
and architects.
In the joinedupdesignforschools programme, pupils
worked with some of the UK's leading names in design and architecture,
including the Richard Rogers Partnership, Paul Smith, Thomas Heatherwick,
Alsop Architects, Priestman Goode, Wolff Olins and Conran &
Partners. More than 50 such firms were involved, and they all
responded seriously to the briefs set by their pupil client teams.
They have created concepts for better learning and social spaces,
more civilised eating places, uniforms that pupils want to wear,
toilets that are clean and safe, schools that are brighter and
more colourful, and that have new identities of which the pupils
can be proud. In short, the designers and architects created places
where 21st-century pupils want to be.
Some of the concepts have been implemented and
the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is providing match-funding
to enable several more to become a reality. Over five years, the
Sorrell Foundation ran projects and workshops in 100 schools,
working closely with 700 pupils in client teams, often involving
the entire population in each school, which means that a total
of more than 10,000 pupils have been involved in joinedupdesignforschools.
The Foundation also organised a national touring exhibition, which
involved more schools and pupils. The 2005-06 touring exhibition
traveled the country to regions in the first wave of Building
Schools for the Future (BSF) delivery. At each of eight venues,
it hosted receptions and forums to ask the question, what are
the benefits, and what are the obstacles, to involving pupils,
the primary stakeholders, in the BSF process.
2. COMMON ISSUES
IDENTIFIED BY
PUPILS
During the joinedupdesignforschools process
the Sorrell Foundation set up workshops across the UK, and around
700 pupils came to discuss what they would like to improve in
their schools. The pupils identified over 100 issues. They were
concerned about the social areas of their school, the learning
spaces, the school's impact on the environment, the role and reputation
of the school in the community, disability access, and the school
facilities. Their attitude was public-spirited and community-minded.
After much debate, 12 key issues emerged. These common issues
have been made available in a series of publications and on the
web as a guide for schools, architects, designers, local authorities,
consortiums and contractors involved in rebuilding Britain's schools.
Throughout the discussions, the pupils made it clear that they
wanted to be proud of their schools and they wanted to be directly
involved in helping to improve their schools. They did not want
improvements "done" to them—they wanted to help
do them, to be a part of building their school for the future.
COMMON ISSUES
Colour: They want to brighten up their
schools and use colour to enhance atmosphere and mood.
Communication: They want to tell pupils,
teachers, parents and the community what is going on.
Dinner halls and canteens: They want
a civilised lunch time with less chaos; and more time to relax.
Learning spaces: They want modern, inspiring
places to learn.
Reception areas: They want parents, new
pupils, the local community and visitors to feel welcome.
Reputation and identity: They want to
be proud of their school and sure of what it stands for.
Sixth form spaces: They want rooms where
they can socialise and work on their own.
Social spaces: They want sheltered spaces
to "chat and chill" during break.
Storage: They want secure places to put
their books, stationery, equipment, bags and coats.
Toilets: They want toilets to be clean,
hygienic and safe.
Uniform: They want comfortable, smart,
"cool-looking" clothes that they will be proud to wear.
Whole school plan: They want to contribute
to a vision for a new school.
3. LINKING EDUCATION
AND DESIGN
The UK design industry is a world leader in
terms of talent, creativity, quality, size and breadth of design
disciplines. However, the majority of the work it carries out
is for the private sector. One of the aims of joinedupdesignforschools
was to explore how the expertise of UK designers could also benefit
schools. Over 50 design consultancies and 150 architects and designers
have worked on the programme, bringing skills from design disciplines
such as architecture, product, new media, communication, fashion
and clothing, reputation and identity, interior, landscape and
graphics. Their contribution demonstrates the benefits of engaging
the UK's design industry properly with schools, to make a difference
to the lives of pupils and staff and create a better learning
environment for the future. If we can use this wealth of design
talent and join it up with the primary consumers of education,
the pupils themselves, we stand a better chance of giving our
children some of the best schools in the world.
4. USING THE
JOINEDUPDESIGNFORSCHOOLS PROCESS
The joinedupdesignforschools process can be
used for any type of school design project, whether it is part
of Building Schools for the Future, the Primary Capital programme,
or building a new Academy. It can also be used when planning a
smaller intervention, such as designing new locker and storage
systems, a new school uniform, better school signage or a new
identity for the school. The process can equally be used to teach
life skills in a classroom learning project. For the joinedupdesignforschools
process to give the best results, it should be used in its full
form and started at the beginning of the design development as
part of the overall vision and brief, before any design decisions
are made. It will work best if the pupils are completely involved
at all stages in a genuine, extended dialogue with the designers
and architects. The Sorrell Foundation is producing a guide called
How to use joinedupdesignforschools, which will be available
in printed form and online in September 2006. Six 10 minute case
studies are being shown on Teachers' TV and are downloadable for
teachers to use.
5. IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE
SCHOOLS REBUILDING
AND REFURBISHMENT
PROGRAMMES
Between now and 2025, the Government is planning
to rebuild or refurbish all secondary schools and half the primary
schools in the UK, through the Building Schools for the Future
and Primary Capital programmes. The aim is to ensure that every
child is educated in a 21st-century environment. It is the biggest
and most strategic capital investment in school buildings in over
50 years.
As any major school design project gets underway,
teachers have to be consulted, as do governors, parents, the local
community and the local authority. Pupils are just one voice in
the client jigsaw puzzle. But theirs is perhaps the most important
voice, and it is vital that it is sufficiently heard. The pupils
are the primary consumers of education; they know a tremendous
amount about the school environment, and they both want and need
to be involved. If fully consulted, they can provide extremely
valuable knowledge to architects, designers and contractors. The
joinedupdesignforschools process can help ensure the pupil voice
is properly heard.
Schools benefit from this engagement in the
following ways. They gain: Fresh thinking: Head teachers
and governors encounter a fresh way of thinking about how to tackle
school design. Excellent design: The unique combination
of young minds with first-hand knowledge working with creative
professionals, generates excellent design solutions. Life skills:
Pupils in the client teams become more self-confident and develop
a range of new skills. Professional development: Many teachers
say they discovered new approaches and different methods for helping
pupils learn by working with design professionals. Common Issues:
Issues identified by pupils are helping schools, architects, designers,
local authorities, consortiums and contractors in their design
decisions. A new model: Joinedupdesignforschools has created
a pupil-focused model that all schools can use in building/refurbishment
programmes, or simply as a tool to help pupils learn life skills.
Implemented designs: A number of schools have had their
joinedupdesigns implemented, these act as representative models
for BSF delivery.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
Given the impacts and benefits identified by
the joinedupdesignforschools model, demonstrating the positive
outcomes of engaging pupils in the delivery process, we believe
it should be mandatory to form a pupil client team in every school
undertaking a Building Schools for the Future or Primary Capital
development. The client team should be properly involved throughout
the process, following the joinedupdesignforschools model. We
also believe it is imperative that all of the 12 common issues
identified by pupils during the joinedupdesignforschools programme
become part of the conversation for every school planning design
improvements.
The benefits that would ensue from implementing
these recommendations would be as follows: the pupils will develop
valuable life skills; the stakeholder engagement will point towards
a different way of learning; teachers and school staff will gain
professional development; early sample schools will generate innovative,
practical and scaleable designs for schools across the UK; architectural
and design practices will gain first-hand experience of school
needs.
June 2006
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