What to Remember When Renovating Your School Interior

Renovating your school interior can bring a host of challenges and opportunities.

At Promote Your School we offer a novel approach to renovating schools. Our bespoke Wall Art is a sustainable alternative to painting and temporary displays. It requires zero upkeep and is even wipe-clean!

With over two decades’ experience, we’ve learned a few tricks and tips along the way.

In this blog, we’ll share our advice so your next school renovation project goes smoothly.

Where to start

When renovating your school interior, the first task is to prioritise which areas to focus on.

There will be numerous aspects to consider;

• which areas of your school see the most footfall?
• are any areas likely to affect a prospective family’s impression of your school?
• what are your school improvement goals and how does a renovation fit within these?
• where will you find the funds to invest when renovating your school?
• can you create learning opportunities through your renovation project?

Managing your investment

Once you have earmarked some areas for renovation, the next step is to consider costs.

You may be tempted to find ‘quick fix’, low cost options for your renovation. But, it’s always worth looking into permanent, high quality and sustainable options that offer value for money and will last a long time.

For example; covering a wall with premium, vinyl wallpaper may protect the surface for longer than painting. So, while your initial outlay might be higher, you’ll save time and money because you won’t need to repaint once a year.

Create opportunities

Renovating your school creates the perfect opportunity to use your visual environment to support learning. Need to repaint a drab, while wall on the main school stairwell? Why not create a learning inspired mural instead?

Many schools use the very fabric of their buildings to inspire learning and complement the curriculum. Cover your walls, floors, doors, ceilings and windows with bright, engaging designs to generate a positive learning environment for all.

The example below shows how to use your walls and floors to build an immersive activity trail for young pupils. This is certain to boost creativity, motivate pupils and get them in a positive mindset for learning. Genius!

Make it personal

Renovating your school provides the opportunity to add personal touches. You can add charm to new builds or bring a modern twist to traditional buildings, whilst being sympathetic to the natural features of the interior.

Many schools even include their pupils in the renovation project. Summer Fields School in Oxford is a great example of this. They added bags of personality to their boarding house by asking pupils and teachers to submit witty anecdotes to feature on the walls.

We used these to create news headlines that raise a smile and add a bit of fun to the space. This adds a very personal touch to the rooms and offers a ‘home-from-home’ feel to the boarding houses.

A simple but very effective alternative to merely painting the walls white!

Think longterm

Any good renovation project will offer a return on your investment and longterm value. This is critical to consider when choosing how and where to invest your budget.

Future-proof your renovation project by;

• Choosing sustainable, durable and longlasting products and materials
• Opting for timeless designs that won’t go out of fashion or become dated
• Using what you have – e.g. furniture can be repainted and existing fixtures can become quirky design features
• Working with experienced and ethical suppliers who understand the education landscape, and your unique goals
• Engaging stakeholders to provide input at key points so everyone is on the same journey

Let’s get started

At Promote Your School we design beautiful, bespoke Wall Art for schools. We offer a fully consultative service that includes design, print and installation.

• To begin, we’ll visit your school free of charge to chat about your goals and discuss your options.
• Our prices are based on the scope of work required, so we’ll send you an accurate quote once we understand your brief.
• All costs are included in the quote – there are absolutely no hidden extras or unexpected costs. So you can budget accordingly.
• Our Wall Art is designed to last many years, so offers a great return on investment

Get in touch to find out more!