Break out outdoor classrooms for schools
6m x 4m rectangular outdoor classroom with French doors
We have been asked quite a lot recently to provide outdoor classrooms to be used as “break-out” rooms or as some schools call them, nurture rooms or escape rooms. These are essentially additional spaces where children can be taken out of the melee of the average school day and classroom environment and be given a more personal and intense one-on-one time with teachers and staff. We have found that they need to cater for no more than 15 pupils and staff at any one given time or session.
The reason for having an independent room for this is two fold. The first one being space or should I say lack of it. I have spoken to so many schools who are literally bursting at the seams anyway so there is simply no available room or space to conduct these sessions with pupils – so necessity anyway dictates having something additional sited in the playground or school playing field. Secondly, schools like to have an environment which is out of the main school building anyway as it fosters a sense of calm and re-assurance.
But what sort or type of a building does a school have in this instance? They don’t really want to have a traditional open-sided, gazebo style outdoor classroom (usually octagonal or rectangular) as this limits its use as these rooms need to be used all year round and in all weathers and seasons. A mobile or modular classroom might be too big for this requirement as well and perhaps not affordable in the current financial climate.
This is where our Enclosed outdoor classrooms come into their own as they fall conveniently between the above two options. In the main, they are all below 30m2 so that building regulation approval is not required. They are available in a whole host of sizes and shapes – namely octagonal, rectangular and square – and are manufactured out of cedar with an attractive cedar shingle tile roof. Cedar is a high quality timber (we source our cedar directly from Western Canada where it is grown) so it has numerous advantages over other traditionally used timbers – it doesn’t rot and requires very little, if none, on-going maintenance. Which again saves money in the medium to long term for a school.
Options for these buildings also include insulation, an atrium roof to allow in lots of natural daylight from above, timber sub-frame base, bi-fold doors to the front elevation, eco packages including renewable energy equipment and they are also modular – so within reason, they can easily be adapted for a school’s setting or individual requirements. In the majority of cases, they do not require planning permission as they fall under permitted development rights but a school always need to check first with their local planning authority before proceeding.
They are also typically installed within a week so minimal disruptance to a school’s working week or term. And although we say it ourselves, they do look quite nice!
For further details on our range of break-out or nurture outdoor classrooms, please contact us on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
outdoor classroom with French doors