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Classroom of the Future |
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On the 12th June 2003 the Sandy Upper School Classroom of the Future was officially opened by David Milliband (MP) and Robin Coll-Hamilton (Director of the Science Museum).
The projects at three Bedfordshire schools were designed by the Science Museum in conjunction with Bedfordshire County Council and the Department for Education and Skills, as part of the prestigious national DfES scheme.
The Classrooms of the Future are at Sandy Upper School, Maple Tree Lower School in Sandy and Burgoyne Middle School in Potton. They feature the world's first outdoor MP3 jukebox, a solar-powered speed reaction game and stunning wind-powered interactives.
Each of the stimulating and challenging environments has been designed to encourage learning and interaction through play. They are complemented by brand new classrooms which feature innovative spatial, lighting and acoustic properties designed to maximize their potential as educational spaces, as well as a state of the art IT and audio-visual infrastructure. They were developed by the Science Museum in conjunction with the children and teachers at each school.
David Miliband said: "School buildings that are imaginative and stimulating inspire learning. We want every pupil to benefit from 21st Century buildings and facilities that will also be a source of pride and a practical resource for the community. The lessons learned from these pilots such as Bedfordshire's highly innovative project will help shape the design of schools in the future."
Keith Greaves, the Science Museum's Development Manager said: "The Museum is a key player in the field of informal learning and we're bringing decades of experience to influence learning outside the Museum walls.
"We wanted to use interactives outdoors to challenge the traditional concept of classroom learning. Children are constantly exploring and learning about their physical and social environments and we wanted to tap into this by improving their break times.
"These developments are absolutely state of the art, none of us had outdoor MP3 jukeboxes when we were at school. But what's really special about this project is how we've managed to get input from all stakeholders at all stages of the process which has guaranteed such an excellent result."
Classrooms of the Future are created around a concept of how physical space can positively develop learning and raise educational standards. The challenge is to remove the existing barriers often found within conventional classrooms and move towards a new environment for learning and to provide experiences that will both motivate and challenge learners based on current research into learning. The aim was also to select the most appropriate applications of modern technologies to be used.
Each new classroom has been built alongside existing buildings at the three schools, and has been designed in each case to create new spatial opportunities for learning, in combination with the new equipment.
The buildings have been designed by London architects Sergison Bates with the aim of being ecologically friendly as well as creating a positive environment in which children can learn.
David Doran, Strategic Director – Learning said: "This is an important initiative. The clear focus upon how we use our knowledge of how pupils best learn to influence our learning environments will provide teachers and those who work alongside them with exciting opportunities to improve teaching and learning. The lessons we learn can also be shared and our links with the Science Museum have enabled us to look again at how we can improve our approach to designing and building any new learning area."
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