What would you want to include in a new building?

[Guest]

Hi!

I havent posted here before, but love the ideas and resources that are available here, so before I start - thank you!

My question is -

What do you love about your currect setting or what would you love to have in your school?

 

I have been given the opportunity to help in the planning and building of a new Nursery and Creche extension to our school. I have seen some fantastic schools in the UK when I worked there but often a few days on supply doesnt give the depth of understanding that working with a setting day in and day out does.

Some background:

We are based in Astana, Kazakhstan, the winters get very very cold (down to -40 + wind chill) so we cant always get outside - a big problem for me!

There will be two nursery classes, and three creche starting at age 1.

Money will be an issue but I will be putting in a wish list and seeing what I can get away with

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Paula

 

[finleysmaid]

WOW how fantastic! We moved in to our refurbished building 3 years ago ....the things i like the most are space.....really important for this age group and the ability to move everything around has been a god send. Also i would say dont be afraid to do things differently...your setting doesn't have to look like everyone elses....dare to be different!

[Guest]

what an amazing, and terrifying, opportunity!

My number one essential is boring but we never have enough - so inbuilt storage with shelves, and more storage to put things you are not using at the time out of sight in an orderly way.

My number one wish is something I saw on a Kibbutz - an old car - some children went on magical journeys, others were racing drivers and others dismantled the engine.

Please let us know what you do.

[Wildflowers]

Good storage where things can be well organised and easy to access.

Larger flexible resources - things that can be used for different kinds of role play, such as play frames (below - perhaps could be made locally) and light, small tables. Large pieces of fabric and cushions.

 

[Guest sn0wdr0p]

Flexible room sizes. I often found that we would have a big influx of children of a similar age and it would have been useful to have interconnecting rooms with large fold back doors (at bit like they have in conference suites in hotels) so I could change room sizes easily.

[Wildflowers]

Yes, that is a better idea with larger groups. I was thinking of the importance of being able to create spaces within the space. Community Playthings have good layout ideas and resources, which you may be able to adapt.

[Guest]

A sensory room.

 

Fantastic resource for SEND and your very young children alike. We're in a children's centre and have one next door to our setting. It's invaluable.

[Guest]

Agree with Wildflowers on play frames and fabrics.

I would want all my classroom shelving and storage to be on (lockable) wheels or the 'flip up/down' mechanism used on the Community Playthings furniture for ease of moving/rearranging the layout in the classroom.

Durable floor covering (heavy duty linoleum/wood) that was warm for children working on the surface

A light table

Toilet facilities that the children could access and use independently from the classroom

A large mirror at child height

[Guest]

Thank you, there are some super ideas there, we aren't on to resourcing yet but still working out the shape and lay out. It is exciting and yep, a bit terrifying! I'm thinking of teachers way off in the future saying "who designed this? What were they thinking!"

Off to meet the architect this afternoon eep!

[Guest]

I'm thinking of teachers way off in the future saying "who designed this? What were they thinking!"

I was in such a situation, my new room had not been designed for young children. Some issues for me were: lack of storage, flooring issues (such as carpet in the art and malleable area), room spaces which aren't easily scannable (i.e. hidden corners), things not at the right height for children, and a lack of consideration of what areas would be used for (my touchscreen was to be above a radiator which is not a good idea anyway but would have made it unusable for the children).

 

Hope your meeting went well

[finleysmaid]

Hope your meeting went well....hadn't realised from your post how close to the beginning you were! I was very involved in the refurbishment of our building three years ago (PM me if i can be of any help)

Ideas to think about

Toilets...as mentioned . This is probably the most used area of the building and has to be fit for purpose with the age group you have.

Windows ...as low level as possible to see the world around!

Electrical plugs ...worth having these at deck height rather than floor height ...you can get special plugs for safety too.

Flooring ...ours is wood all the way through and a sprung floor which is fantastic ....if there is any way to avoid concrete i would but not likely i'm afraid. So areas of carpet or lino need to be planned. Or lino all of it and use rugs to define spaces. I would suggest looking into a 'wood' effect style which will give you a neutral background for the classroom. Bathroom flooring needs to be easily cleanable and curved up the walls to comply with new building regs. (not white like ours!!!!....big mistake....not mine i might add!)

Are you at the stage of colours for walls yet?

easy Access to the outdoors if possible and storage there too.

.....i have to say i have very little storage for resources as everything is accessible to the children but you do need cleaning material storage etc.

Take pictures! you will never believe how quickly it goes!!!

[Guest]

I'm thinking of teachers way off in the future saying "who designed this? What were they thinking!"o

We say this all the time about our space for our setting, usually followed by "it must have been a man."

 

No offence to any males on the forum

[Guest]

Wow, you really are starting with a blank canvas

 

Can you have running water outside, both for exploring and handwashing

 

Don't know what others think about this, but I have often wondered about a toilet outside as mine have to traipse through the classrooms at present