FEATURE FOCUS: SCHOOL MAINTENANCE & DESIGN
Building better inclusivity into operational school design
Safe, healthy and secure - our school communities rely on the fabric of their sites to play an important role in their duty of care to pupils.
Yet to celebrate and serve a diverse pupil roll, a comfortable and protective environment is the very least we should expect. How individuals interact with their surroundings and connect with their school all contribute to positive learning outcomes. The focus should always be on the overall student experience.
With a total of £740 million allocated by the Department for Education to deliver adaptations, create specialist units and open up new special school places, it would seem the Government too believes that all schools should be looking at how they match their SEND education with a supportive setting of equally high quality.
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elivering a school project is about much more than building classrooms - it’s about creating an environment where young people can seize opportunity. With a government commitment to 10,000 new SEND school places, Paul Knifton, chartered architect at multi-disciplinary consultancy Pick Everard, looks at how existing mainstream and special schools can design learning spaces where all pupils can thrive..
The investment comes on the back of research which shows fewer than one in 10 mainstream schools have specialist facilities or resourced provision which provide more intensive support for pupils with SEND. It says between 2010 to 2024, the number of children with EHCPs or their previous equivalent being educated in independent special schools increased from 7,000 to 26,000 – while the latest data shows an escalating gap of 8,000 places in state special schools.
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www.education-today.co.uk Flexible spaces
So, can the design principles applied to the construction of new special schools transfer to existing, operational schools and colleges? Taking care to craft a learning environment that recognises a complex range of physical and cognitive difficulties, including neurodevelopmental conditions, is achievable in and around the current footprint of a campus. While there is rarely a ‘one-size’ fits all approach, there are key considerations to take on board. How do pupils move about the school? Is there enough space to accommodate additional equipment and manoeuvrability? Are sensory elements of the school environment sensitive to all needs? Are facilities accessible and is the dignity of students respected in the design?
Inclusive school design when it comes to adapting existing spaces is not about ‘making do’ - it’s the total opposite. It’s about putting pupils at the heart of the design and reengineering accommodation, from storage to social spaces, to meet practical requirements and ensure the activities they house are available to everyone.
For example, the use of partitions, typically a steel frame on a regular grid, to subdivide spaces is a simple way to enhance the adaptability of a space.
Numerous studies have also highlighted the June 2025
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