School furniture has not developed in 50 years and must do urgently to aid learning and protect children, delegates at a new campaign launch have been told.
A call to action, Safe seats of learning, urged specifiers, manufacturers and education professionals to work together to ensure children can enjoy and benefit from much better environments, which would aid both learning and teaching, reduce the risk of recurrent back pain and recognise the different shapes and sizes of growing youngsters.
Introducing the launch event, Hayden Davies, Managing Director of FIRA International [Furniture Industry Research Association], said price was the overwhelming factor which currently dictated the purchase of furniture used in most schools, which contrasts with every other area of the furniture industry.
“School furniture has basic design and minimal development,” he said. “In all other areas, design innovation drives furniture sales. But in most schools, furniture has not changed for 50 years – how many people have the same kitchen they had 50 years ago?”
Keynote speaker Ty Goddard, Director of the British Council for School Environments [BCSE] told a capacity audience at London’s Royal Society of Arts that the BCSE had become an organisation of 300 members in the past two years, and urged those present to form a similar coalition to support the case for great furniture in schools.
“FIRA has produced a document which is so complex in its simplicity, and so simple in its complexity that it can really help make a difference. Huge changes in education such as personalised learning, schools for the community and the Children’s Plan will have significant implications for educational space planning, and Safe seats of learning is a clarion call for change. We need the same kind of campaign against turkey twizzler-type school furniture as there was against turkey twizzler-type school food, and this accessible discussion paper will help make that happen.
“Poor ergonomic design affects handwriting, concentration and the general well-being of pupils. Furniture can do so much more than it is currently given credit for; good ergonomic design creates a sense of ownership and respect.”
Alison Wadsworth, Senior Designer at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said Local Education Authorities are being allocated an average of around £10m to spend on furniture and equipment under the Building Schools for the Future programme of refurbishment in secondary schools.
“Schools often focus on equipment as it is assumed there is a direct link to learning and therefore, ultimately, results, but we need to get the message across that furniture plays a big part in the environment and the learning experience; it is just as important as equipment, buildings and other learning resources.”
The Department is set to embark on a 30 month project with a firm of architects researching the effect of personalised learning on the school building environment. Ten case studies will be featured and it is hoped that some of these will cover furniture schemes. Alison showed plans of the recent DCSF Faraday science initiative. These included a junior learning village for a refurbished secondary school which now caters for Years 7 and 8, and a science lab in the round, theatre style, where teaching can be conducted in the middle of bench desks.
FIRA Senior Consultant Ergonomist Levent Caglar, said most current school furniture is uninspiring, inflexible, unhealthy and unfit for purpose.
“Children mistreat it because they don’t respect it, and they don’t respect it because they feel they are not respected themselves, as it is not good enough. School is the workplace of the child. Most school furniture would be illegal in an office! Teachers are protected under health and safety regulations, but children are not.
A 2001 survey funded by FIRA, the Department of Education and Skills and the British Educational Suppliers’ Association (BESA) measured 1400 children in three English regions, and found they were 1cm taller than they had been in a similar study a decade earlier, consistent with the growth rate of 1cm a decade found in data going back to 1970. While the size of children is increasing, the size of the furniture they are expected to use has not changed in 50 years.
“Incorrectly sized school furniture and rigid designs are detrimental to a child’s development,” Levent said. “Current school furniture encourages bad posture and the occurrence of recurrent back pain, and discourages the movement that is essential to a growing child. For example, rocking in a chair has in the past been regarded as a bad thing, but movement is essential as it increases blood flow, providing nutrients to inter vertebral discs; it helps complex back muscles to grow through stimulation; and also stimulates the brain. So far from being a sign of a lack of concentration, rocking actually has the opposite effect and has been proven to boost attentiveness.”
FIRA held a three month trial at the beginning of this year with Year 2 children at Wheatfield Infants and Nursery School, St Albans. Tests showed that pupils using desks with tilts of either 5° or 10° felt more than double the comfort levels of those with normal flat desks, were two or three times happier with the height of the desks and felt twice as happy.
A new, non-mandatory standard for school furniture, EN 1729, was introduced last year, covering dimensions and safety requirements, but according to Levent Caglar, this is just a starting point. “There is nothing in the standard which addresses ergonomics issues. It simply has dimensions for tables and chairs to match the sizes of children. However it provides dimensions for standing height tables as well as adjustable furniture. An overall assessment is needed to progress our call to action, to help children, schools, manufacturers and specifiers.”
To this end, FIRA has developed a certification scheme for school furniture, which identifies long lasting, fit for purpose products which meet and far exceeds the stipulations of EN1729. A data sheet for each certified product contains information on environmental, sustainability and quality management systems of the manufacturer, together with ratings for its performance in relation to movement, aesthetics, mobility, stackability, multiple sizes, adjustability, instructions for use and additional features, and also in tests to standard EN1729. An overall assessment rating is also given.
All furniture used in schools is covered by the scheme, including lockers, stools and storage units as well as tables, chairs and workbenches. The first two companies to have signed up to support the initiative are Community Playthings and Spaceright, part of the Ultralon Group.
A lively panel discussion, involving the speakers plus BESA Director General Dominic Savage, Hilary Apps, a parent of children at Wheatfields Infants and Nursery School, and Peter Hill and Jane Shaddick of specifiers/consultants Bluevoicepgh ended the launch event.
Dominic Savage said: “A manufacturer of superb furniture products was invited into a school by a headteacher, but after 10 minutes of showing their ranges, the headteacher apologised and said they must have misunderstood – she just wanted to know what their cheapest chair was! This is the biggest problem we have to move away from, and EN1729 can be the trigger that kickstarts change”.
Parent Hilary Apps said: “How can we teach children how to sit properly unless teachers are aware of the ergonomic considerations and show best practice themselves? My experience is that this is a new area for most teachers. We need to build up a head of steam to pressurise government and local authorities to protect our children”.
In response to a question asking if EN1729 would be made mandatory, Alison Wadsworth said: “It is doubtful, as the government is reluctant to impose mandatory standards. Offices are different as they are covered by health and safety laws. School premises laws are being reviewed now, but it is unlikely they will include much on furniture”.
Levent Caglar said there needed to be a mind shift where major refurbishments are concerned. “At the moment, school building work starts on the outside and works inwards, whereas it should be the other way round. Those involved should ask themselves how they want to teach and what are the needs of children, then work outwards to identify types of furniture and the type of building needed,” he said.
For further information on the FIRA Certification scheme for school furniture, please Tel 01438 777700 or email .
School furniture has not developed in 50 years and must do urgently to aid learning and protect children, delegates at a new campaign launch have been told.
“Schools often focus on equipment as it is assumed there is a direct link to learning and therefore, ultimately, results, but we need to get the message across that furniture plays a big part in the environment and the learning experience; it is just as important as equipment, buildings and other learning resources.”
“Children mistreat it because they don’t respect it, and they don’t respect it because they feel they are not respected themselves, as it is not good enough. School is the workplace of the child. Most school furniture would be illegal in an office! Teachers are protected under health and safety regulations, but children are not.
A lively panel discussion, involving the speakers plus BESA Director General Dominic Savage, Hilary Apps, a parent of children at Wheatfields Infants and Nursery School, and Peter Hill and Jane Shaddick of specifiers/consultants Bluevoicepgh ended the launch event.