Much has been written about the way that a well-designed school can contribute to the productivity of teachers and improve pupils’ results. The arrival of January Mock A Level season set me wondering about the issue, specifically in relation to our Harrodian Sixth Formers who have been working so hard since their return from the Christmas break. Is the space which they now learn and study in easing stress and improving performance in the run up to the biggest and most important examinations they face in their school career?
It is, after all, now over a term since the Sixth Form moved into its brand new home at the top of the Senior building. The completion of this project has fulfilled an ambition I have long cherished. The vision was to create a purpose-designed, fully resourced area that putpils throughout the school would consider the perfect setting in which to study for their A levels and complete their secondary education.
The vision was to create a purpose-designed, fully-resourced area that pupils throughout the school would consider as the perfect setting in which to study for their A Levels and complete their secondary education.
James Hooke, Headmaster
The new suite provides our Sixth Formers with a space in which to breathe, focus and concentrate. Accommodating eight new classrooms, a teachers’ office and soft seating areas, at 8500 square feet it is more than double the size of the previous Sixth Form wing – simultaneously freeing up room for the Senior School below. Classrooms are generously scaled, housing state-of-the-art technology, with high quality interiors and furniture. The focal point is the airy glass walled study area that links the floor’s two wings, where students can work at a bank of desktop computers or at leather-topped beechwood desks.
It certainly looks amazing, but does it work? Our Head of Sixth Form, David Behan, is in no doubt, describing his new workspace as “beautiful, homely and functional”. He is particularly enthusiastic about its ‘integrated’ nature where “students can work in their classrooms, find a space to relax or study in and locate their tutors for help, all without leaving the Sixth Form floor”.
So much for the official view, but what about our students? Gratifyingly, the feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive with several Sixth Formers highlighting the stress-busting benefits of its serenity. “It’s great to have break-out spaces to relax in”, one said “but having a study room in the middle is very motivating and it’s a lovely inspiring place to work in, especially in the afternoons when the sun is setting”.
