THE DESIGN of some primary schools – especially older buildings – makes it difficult to implement the child-centred curriculum, according to a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The study is one of the first to examine the effects of school design on teaching and learning in Irish primary schools.
The ESRI research says that new school buildings are seen more positively by teachers and pupils than older school types in terms of classroom sizes, accessibility, lighting, heating, ventilation and storage.
But the study also makes a series of recommendations, including:
l Schools should be located on sites which are large enough to allow the use of outdoor space for teaching and learning as well as play and sports and to facilitate future expansion resulting from population growth;
l Schools should be located close to the centre of the community to encourage parental involvement in school life. Parental involvement should be facilitated by providing a space for parents to meet within the school;
l The potential to move towards an “extended school model”, with early childhood care and education along with local social and community services provided within or close to the school, should be investigated;
l Outdoor space should incorporate a variety of play surfaces and playground equipment along with a school garden and other spaces.
The report says the increased diversity of pupils requires the allocation of more and larger rooms for supplementary teaching activities to support special educational and language needs.
Greater attention, it says, should be paid by school management to the fit-out of schools, “providing ergonomic and age-appropriate furniture appropriate to differing pupil needs”.
A designated space should also be provided for pupils to eat their lunches outside the classroom.
Designing Primary Schools for the Future by Merike Darmody, Emer Smyth and Cliona Doherty is published by the ESRI.