Upfront

NEW SCHOOL DELIVERS PERFECT BLEND OF ROBUST DESIGN AND STIMULATING ENVIRONMENT

Students are settling in well at the latest school operated by Teesside-based Horizons Specialist Academy Trust, which is committed to creating the best possible outcomes for students with a range of special educational needs across both primary and secondary education.

The trust supports six other academies, including a sixth form, in the Middlesbrough and Stocktonon-Tees area. The Mo Mowlam Academy, so named in tribute to the late politician, Mo Mowlam, who was the Labour MP for Redcar from 1987 to 2001, was handed over to the trust by contractor Tilbury Douglas (formerly Interserve) in February this year. The pupil numbers for Mo Mowlam Academy are relatively low compared to typical allthrough schools, entirely due to the needs of the students who attend. In fact, there are fewer than 10 pupils per year group on average. Formally known as Pathways School, the capacity of the former school was 64 pupils, with the new school catering for up to 30 primary and 70 secondary school students, thus enabling all local children aged five to 16 with social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) and living within the Redcar and Cleveland area, to be educated within the borough so that they do not have to travel miles to school.

The ethos of the school centres around making a difference to young people, who at some point, have experienced issues surrounding social exclusion both at school and at home, so it was imperative that the design of the new building catered to their specific situational needs.

The design team selection

Designing a school building that is both robust and yet able to provide a transformative environment for teaching and learning is a tough call.

While the design needs to intrinsically provide security for students and teaching staff, it must also provide a warm backdrop for learning – a safe haven.

Howarth Litchfield was selected for the role of lead designer, architect and principal designer, with additional responsibility for interior design and BIM coordination because of its extensive experience in the education sector, particularly the specialist areas of SEN and SEMH. The practice had previously completed Marchbank Free School in nearby Darlington, which is also a SEMH school and Keith Handy, Director of Howarth Litchfield, was able to bring significant personal additional experience of both general needs and SEN schools to the project. He said: “The need for SEMH schools in the North East is growing and this school replaces one that was very small and in need of expansion and an update. “The structure of the building and its fixtures and fittings needed to be robust but sufficiently interesting to provide an engaging environment capable of keeping the students’ attention, so it was important that there was a mix of external and internal play areas, to allow some opportunity for letting off steam.”

Day-to-day dos and don’ts

The school provides both primary and secondary places for pupils who are taught in mixed age groups. Largely with behavioural difficulties, students attending Mo Mowlam require a wide range of techniques to be employed by teaching staff to get the best out of them – some children may even have experienced exclusion from their own families. Typically, SEMH students cannot cope in crowds. Large, open spaces can cause anxiety, whereas small, confined spaces can make them feel claustrophobic. Although responsive supervision is an underlying principle at the school, there are occasions when students present more challenging behaviour, requiring more direct intervention from staff. This means common and circulation spaces are generally designed to be wider than in a normal school corridor – 2100mm as a minimum – so that pupils do not feel so hemmed in.

Various other specific architectural requirements pertaining to SEMH needs also had to be met. A school building like this must not permit or encourage anti-social or potentially harmful behaviour, so the roof is designed to be completely inaccessible to pupils; windows need to permit airflow but not allow the egress of pupils or access to large glassed areas where breakage might occur more readily. Fittings, such as trunking and display boards, are designed to be flush to the wall to minimise potential injury through contact or removal.

Calm rooms have been designed with fixed seating which provide an appropriate environment for staff intervention with students if required. Mr Handy continued: “Considering how the building would be used, separation between both the primary and secondary elements was essential, hence the layout that we have developed with the administrative and ancillary accommodation located centrally on the plan. “We have tried to promote social inclusion for all the building users, including visitors and service delivery personnel, by providing clear and legible routes through the site that are suitable for pedestrians, wheelchair users and people with prams or buggies and by providing appropriate lighting, recognised tactile surfacing and sufficient contrast between floor and wall surfaces for those with visual acuity difficulties. “External CCTV is, of course, a given for security but is useful as a tool in monitoring interaction within the school. High-security electromechanical locks on all exterior doors and internal connecting doors are also a much-needed feature.”

Putting the students front and centre

The building layout has been shaped predominantly by functional requirements rather than the site itself. Firstly, three distinct, separated entrances were needed – one for primary students, one for secondary students and a main entrance for staff and visitors. 

For primary pupils, in addition to adequate IT provision in the five 41m2 classrooms, there is a sensory room, a calming room, a soft-play room and practical teaching space large enough for the preparation and cooking of food.

Within the secondary school are eight classrooms containing workstations as well as an ICT room, a library with five more workstations, a dedicated secondary dining room, a music room, a food technology room with sink, cooker and cupboards, a science room, an art room and a design and technology room.

Shared internal spaces are given over to dining, PE and assembly. For teaching and support staff, there is also a reception area, general office, staff rooms and various meeting and interview rooms.

A dedicated central pedestrian access, separate from the vehicular access, maximises safety for those on foot, together with a oneway system for drop off/pick up with sufficient space for multiple students to arrive and leave by taxi. There is also enough space for vehicles to ‘overtake’ if necessary.

External considerations

The landscape design serves to create a highquality, secure and pleasant outdoor learning environment with engaging spaces featuring play equipment for primary pupils plus a secure space for them to let off steam away from the view of secondary students.

At the same time, secondary students have been given space to run off energy and unwind away from the view of primary pupils. The central multi-use games area (MUGA) can be used by both primary and secondary pupils.

The external learning areas must also facilitate teaching opportunities and to that end, there is a gated horticultural garden with raised beds so that students can gain practical horticulture skills with some hardstanding providing the opportunity for activities such as bike mechanics. Mr Handy concludes: “We are pleased with the feedback we have received since the building has been put to full use. We feel we have given careful consideration to how the design can provide an inclusive response to the wider social and cultural issues at play to ensure the building provides a fully accessible asset for the pupils and staff of Mo Mowlam Academy.”

The contractor’s perspective

Mark Gardham, Regional Director of Tilbury Douglas Construction, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been involved from the outset as part of our nationwide DfE framework. “We know that this will make a transformational difference to the students, staff and parents alike and it means that staff and students from the local community can benefit from a new state-ofthe-art facility in a building which has been designed and built specifically with their educational and bespoke personal needs in mind. “The provision of separate teaching, dining spaces around a central administration hub and extensive external sports facilities for junior and secondary students enhances the whole schooling experience, and we consider, will assist in providing a quiet, calm, robust and, above all, safe learning and teaching environment where all pupils, students and staff alike can enjoy their learning experiences.” A final word from Horizons Trust CEO, Elizabeth Horne CBE: “The new school provides a much-improved learning and social environment for the pupils and students. Everyone has settled in well and the whole school community is delighted with the additional resources available within the new building. We are pleased with the careful consideration that has been given to designing and providing a school environment which is tailored to the specific needs of the children and young people who currently attend and those who will attend in future years.”  www.howarthlitchfield.com