Space Issues
Maharishi School primary site including the Reception class The DfE Building Bulletin (BB103) – the area guideline document for schools - sets out area guidelines for school buildings and sites for all age ranges from 3 to 19. This document lists the sorts of spaces schools should normally have, and recommended sizes. The sizes are of course based on larger class sizes than Maharishi School’s, but in many cases the school falls short of the recommended ratio of space to pupil. Below are a few examples of the shortfalls in our school’s premises.
The Primary Phase site
Currently the barn houses 6 classrooms, a reception/office, a small library/intervention space in near constant use, the Head and Deputy Head’s shared office and a small staff room. In primary schools, the BB103 list includes a school hall, which can double up as a dining room, and a food preparation area. We have no school hall, dining room/kitchen or spare space. Pupils eat lunch in their
classrooms and the before and after school clubs also operate from classrooms. As well as other operational considerations, both of these situations prohibit teachers from using their classrooms at lunchtime or after school. The staff room is also
unsuitable for working at these times and is also often used as an intervention space.
The separate Reception building also provides an administration office and is supplemented by a garden shed provided for pupils with specific needs. BB103 lists a library of 34m2 – Maharishi School’s is 22.5m2 and is in near constant use in other ways, particularly as an intervention space; a staff room of 41m2 – Maharishi School’s is 35m2 with 8m2 taken up by storage; a Head’s office of 16m2 – Maharishi School’s Head’s office is this size but is shared with the Deputy Head and used as secure financial storage; a SEND resource area, small groups rooms, and a separate confidential meeting room – none of which the school has.
The Secondary Phase site
The Morris Birnbaum Building houses just 5 classrooms, including the science laboratory and the room mostly devoted to art lessons, a small staff room, and very small offices for the secretary/exams officer and the Deputy Headteacher.
All of the classrooms are in constant use, and four of the classrooms are just big enough for 20 pupils, including the lab. When not being used for science lessons, this becomes the room for another subject. The fifth classroom, which is primarily the
art room but also for English, is the largest space at 350m2 and is several times larger than required for an art room. However, as with the primary building, there is no school hall or library. This room therefore houses the art storage, English storage,
the library and becomes a very cramped for assemblies. Also as at the primary site, the Morris Birnbaum building does not have a dedicated kitchen or dining facility (pupils eat their lunch in classrooms), sports hall, first aid station or any sort of space
for meetings. There are two garden sheds for small intervention groups and pupils with specific needs; the small boiler room also provides a space for these activities.
The staff room also serves multiple purposes, often doubling up as a meeting room and intervention area. BB103 recommends a staff room of 34m2 – Maharishi School’s is just 13.3m2. The Deputy Head’s and Secretary’s offices should both be at least 9m2, but ours are 6.3m2 and 5.6m2 respectively. The Exams Officer should also have a separate 9m2 room, whereas Maharishi School only has a dedicated exams storage cupboard of approximately 1.5m2.
Secondary school playgrounds should provide over 40m2 per pupil. Maharishi School’s provides less than 10% of this at approximately 3.6 m2 per pupil. The proposed new building will be designed to provide all the internal spaces
the school needs at the correct size and appropriate external areas, including an outdoor sport field, playgrounds and car parking.