Colour in School

Plans for the new school are now well advanced and we are being asked to make some decisions about the design of the interior. One of these decisions involves a choice about the colour coding of the building. The new school will be considerably bigger than the current one and the architects have proposed that the different blocks have a feature colour, partly to make the circulation spaces more exciting and also to help everyone find their way round. The Design Group, a group of teachers and students who meet with the architects to discuss the design of the building, have the task of selecting their favourite colours. We are hoping that there will be enough money in the budget to have colours we really like (some materials can be produced in any colour whereas others are more limited). Either way, we feel that the colours we choose could have a very positive impact on everyone's mood and ability to learn and interact effectively.

Here are the colours we like at the moment. They would be used on the floors of the circulation and main social spaces. What do you think?

Do you have any favourite colours? Do you think that colour is important in affecting how you feel and how you learn?

Teachers TV is one of my favourite online resources because it has lots of really useful films about all kinds of subjects. This film, "Colour in Our Hall", is one of my favourites. It describes how a group of students in a primary school in Cornwall worked with the designer Kevin McCloud to revamp their school hall as part of the Sorrell Foundation's Joinedupdesignforschools project. The idea behind this initiative is that students act as clients throughout the design process, learning how to identify problems, set challenges, write a design brief and evaluate the success (or otherwise) of the professional designer's solution. Occasionally, as in this case, the final concept is agreed and put into action.