Spaces for learning and living:
primary school and lower grade 2018
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Contents Bringing imagination and curiosity to life – 4 Come in and leave the dirt outside! – 6
Digital media for primary – 8 The digital classroom – 10 Mobile teacher's workplace in the classroom – 12
Room ideas for primary schools – 14 Learning and working with Shift+ – 16 Learning and working with TriTable-II – 26 Learning and working with LearnBox – 32 Open spaces and support – 34 Rooms for teaching staff – 42 The lunch table – 44
Labels of quality and environmental certificates – 48
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All information and details correct at time of publication. Subject to change.
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Bringing imagination and curiosity to life Entering the new and exciting world of school is such an important step! Our aim is to shape it as the perfect environment for learning and living, where students feel at ease right from the start. A place that allows them to learn efficiently and enthusiastically, taking pleasure in new discoveries. In the following pages, you'll find many innovative room ideas, designed to create exactly this kind of inspiring learning space. They are specifically conceived to meet the needs of children in primary and lower grade schools, offering complete freedom for a vibrant teaching approach. With differentiated, individually tailored solutions, it is possible to respond to the personality and potential of each individual child. Effective learning is anything but one-dimensional and there are many active ways to make new topics accessible.
Children often need to learn on their own, in pairs or in smaller groups - as well as larger, more conventional classroom groups. That's why it's vital spaces are versatile, allowing them to be transformed and equipped quickly to meet these constantly changing needs. We develop the ideas behind our room concepts in collaboration with experts from the worlds of pedagogics, teaching and school practice, interior architecture, trend and behavioural research and ergonomics. Through their extensive knowledge, our cooperative partners take our developments further, so that we can provide schools with exactly the room concepts they need.
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Wall-mounted coat rack Spacer and 3-way hook
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelf units
Come in and leave the dirt outside! When at school, children should feel completely at home. The first familiar step takes place when they arrive, right at the classroom door. Here they can change from outdoor to indoor footwear and hang coats in an orderly routine. For this, they need a wardrobe space where they can prepare for class, equipped with clothes hooks and an area where they can store shoes.
During the autumn and winter months when it's damp or muddy outside, slippers or indoor footwear essential - keeping any dirt from creeping steadily into the classroom!
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Inspiring:
Digital media for primary schools Designing spaces for interaction and communication.
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The future is now Nowadays, digital media is a firmly established part of the teaching repertoire, from primary school onwards. Interactive displays offer a wealth of possibilities, integrating digital content into everyday classroom activities as an integral part of the students' digital experience - making the world of interactive learning directly accessible. What's more, digital media offers different options for different individuals - providing self-directed learning support, differentiation and an individualised approach. It is vital to take full advantage of the opportunities and possibilities made available by digital solutions.
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PantoSwing-LuPo Forward-sprung cantilever chair
The digital classroom Digital media provides a wealth of new teaching options. It extends the spectrum of methodological and pedagogical possibilities available to teachers - giving children individually tailored options to actively get to grips with the classroom material. Open forms of teaching, such as project work or learning workshops, are particularly suitable for the integration of digital media. These allow the students to work on their individual tasks inde-
TriTable-II Triangular table
Shift+ Base Semi-circular table
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelf units
InteractivePilon 84” display
pendently. During their work, they can use digital devices for information and research, documentation and presentation. However, during project-oriented teaching phases, it's also necessary to perform research, discuss issues, or document and present results.
“VS – Das Systemhaus” is a specialist in integrating digital media in schools and teaching environments. As a premium partner to renowned manufacturers (Microsoft, SMART, Promethean and others), the company offer the right solutions for every area of school application.
Digital media supports these phases of selforganised learning. It is now a fully integrated teaching tool and universally accepted as an important part of the school learning and working environment.
These form the basis for sophisticated digital learning space concepts that work supremely well - ideally tailored to meet the needs of each individual school.
digital media Digital media for primary schools
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PantoMove-Soft/Plus Star-foot chair with foot ring
Shift+ Base Teacher's table in 2 fixed heights or infinitely height-adjustable
Mobile teacher's workplace in the classroom The traditional teacher's desk has turned into a mobile teacher's workplace. It can accompany and assist the teacher in any situation during his or her classroom activity. It also liberates teachers from a generic central position, directly in front of the class. They can now move freely around the classroom depending on the teaching situation, joining various groups as required.
RondoLift-KF Height-adjustable sitting and stand-at table
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelf units
This is possible thanks to mobile teacher's tables such as Shift+ Base and RondoLift-KF. The work surface is large enough to accommodate a notebook and paper documents – but also small enough for the tables to be moved without difficulty. These workplaces are also height-adjustable, allowing the teacher to sit or stand as required. As a result, teaching staff can change their posture ergonomically whenever they choose - a valuable well-being benefit.
Serie 800 Shelves
InteractivePilon 84” display
These tables are ideally accompanied by the PantoMove-Soft/Plus star-foot chair, which has a height adjustment range to stand-at table height. In this case, a foot ring ensures the teacher can sit comfortably. The Shift+ Landscape mobile shelf units can also be moved around the classroom as required and supply material for group work, for example.
Teacher's workplace Digital media for primary schools
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Inspiring:
Room ideas for primary schools Designing spaces for interaction and communication.
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Encouraging versatile learning The new learning spaces allow rooms to open up, permitting a wealth of methodological and pedagogic possibilities. This requires versatile furniture options, with tables and chairs children can quickly group together to meet the needs of any given teaching phase. The rhythm of changing activities characterising the school day is made possible without time-consuming furniture reorganisations. Learning situations can be designed in such a way to allow children to always be involved. This helps them to facilitate planning and designing the room layout to suit their individual ideas and activities - maintaining their interest and keeping them keen to make new discoveries. School adventures can truly begin, with fresh new ideas realised every day.
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Learning workshop
A space for complete freedom Furniture that reacts perfectly to every change of scene, help to turn traditional classrooms into modern learning workshops. A single room room can provide all the design freedom for creative teaching - with all its complex, multifaceted methods and organisational forms. Work at a workstation, group discussions, teamwork, individual assistance, silent concentration, teacher-centred teaching - everything is possible here, exactly the way the teaching situation requires. The space can also be restored to its basic configuration again at any time – ready to be redesigned for the next challenge.
Learning and working with Shift+
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Creating versatile learning environments Designing learning spaces means designing for communication. Every environment influences the interactions that take place within it. For input phases and presentations, furniture in the room is best set up facing front. With this arrangement, the entire group can focus on the person presenting the information and concentrate solely on them - whether they are a teacher introducing new material, or a student delivering a presentation. Any group work that follows the input phase can be organised quickly, thanks to the mobile, easily combined student's tables. Individual tables can simply be moved together to form larger groups.
Input Learning and working with Shift+
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Moving away from the teacher-centred focus Versatile furniture makes a whole range of new possibilities available in the classroom. For phases involving project work, central, forward-facing furniture can be reorganised into a number of different arrangements where various separated areas are juxtaposed - utilising circular forms, snake-like lines and configurations for teams or groups, for example. This versatility provides space for many different activities: Researching, discovering, inventing, imagining, constructing, designing, searching, documenting, organising and conceptualising. The classroom becomes a workshop.
Project work Learning and working with Shift+
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Non-guided work
Learning and working with Shift+
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The step towards open teaching In primary school and lower grade in particular, non-guided work is an interesting way to promote individual capabilities. Working this way, children have the freedom to choose the content and method in which they prefer to learn - effectively designing their own personal learning process. This approach makes it possible to organise individualised, differentiated learning in mixed learning groups.
Incorporating these varied learning practices is often beyond the capabilities of standard furniture solutions. With VS solutions, furniture that can be easily moved, reorganised and combined together quickly to create a more versatile, flexible learning environment.
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Learning workshop
Furniture for a more versatile teaching approach With Shift+, rooms can be rearranged quickly and easily to meet changing requirements. Students and teachers are able to create new layouts without the need for any external help. This way, classrooms gain a whole new perspective, permitting a wider range of additional teaching options. The Shift+ Base student's table is lightweight and has two castors to make it easy to move. The convex or concave sides of the tables offer
Input
different layout possibilities when the units are combined together. Many imaginative combinations are possible as a creative alternative to the more rigid grid-like layouts of standard rectangular tables. Mobile group tables can be quickly moved together, exactly where they are needed.
Project work
non-guided work
Mobile Shift+ Landscape shelf units can be used anywhere in the room, providing any specific materials needed for group work. Naturally, the teacher is also free to move unhindered throughout the classroom. The Shift+ Base mobile teacher's table is an ever-present, easy-going companion that can be moved anywhere within the classroom, at any time.
The forward-sprung cantilever chair PantoSwing-Lupo is highly comfortable, even when seated throughout a long school day. The Hokki active stool is available as a fun-loving temporary alternative, allowing children to express their desire to move constantly when sitting. The Shift+ Landscape seat modules can also be optimally integrated into the layout to create differentiated areas in the room. For floor-level activities, Gugl is the table favoured highly by young children.
PantoSwing-LuPo Forward-sprung cantilever chair
Shift+ Base Student's desk, concave/convex
Learning and working with Shift+
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Shift+ Base Teacher's table in two fixed heights or continuously height-adjustable
Shift+ Base Group table
InteractivePilon 84” display
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelving
Gugl Stackable cylindrical table (FloorFriends™)
Hokki Active stool
Shift+ Landscape Seat module
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Teamwork
Learning and working with TriTable-II
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Working together to find solutions When working in pairs with a partner, students are after given a single task as a collaborative exercise. When doing this, they openly discuss their prior knowledge, different experiences and preferred approach - working together to find the best solution for mutual success. As well as developing content processing skills and supporting communicative abilities, it also helps develop vital social skills. The students learn to consider and appreciate alternative views that often conflict with their own. This type of working with a partner can be easily integrated in everyday teaching. With mobile tables, the partners can join one another quickly and easily.
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Finding one's place in the group Group work is a popular form of organisation. In this learning environment, triangular tables have the advantage, combining together in groups to form assemblies of almost any size. They're also equipped with castors, so even very young students can move them without difficulty.
In much the same way as working with a partner, group work also imposes social demands. Everyone must take account into each other's viewpoint, whilst simultaneously conveying their own unique ideas. Only then is cooperative work possible - involving not only content, but also social education.
Teamwork Learning and working with TriTable-II
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Teamwork
Making learning right for children For teamwork or group work, it's necessary to have a basic table that can be put together in many different ways, depending on the size of the current group. This is exactly what the TriTable-II triangular table facilitates. It opens up a whole range of possible combinations: The individual triangular tables can be rapidly combined to create assemblies for various group sizes. A leg-mounted castor allows the tables to be easily moved and combined together. A good partnering choice of student's chair for this table is the PantoSwing-LuPo with its comfortable air-cushioned seat shell. With the Shift+ Base mobile teacher's chair, the teacher can move around the classroom accompanied by his or her own workplace.
What's the easiest way to create differentiated learning environments that offer different solutions for different children? The answer is the mobile Shift+ Landscape shelf units and seat modules. Alternatively, the comfortable FloorFriends™ carpets, mats and back support rolls for floor-level activities. These items allow children to learn and remain active in a way that best matches their natural body movement and behaviour. The Hokki active stool and stacking stones also contribute to a fun-loving learning environment. With Hokki, children can express their desire to move freely, but in a controlled way. With the stacking stones, they can play, sway and test one's motor skills in numerous ways. At the same time, these multifunctional elements can also be used simply as a seat.
PantoSwing-LuPo Forward-sprung cantilever chair
TriTable-II Triangular table
Shift+ Base Semi-circular table
Shift+ Base Teacher's table in two fixed heights or continuously height-adjustable
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelf units
Shift+ Landscape Seat module
InteractivePilon 84” display
Serie 800 Shelves
Hokki Active stool
Stapelstein Multifunctional Seating and play element (FloorFriends™)
Shift+ Landscape Mats, carpets and back support roles (FloorFriends™)
Learning and working with TriTable-II
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Islands for concentrated work There are times when learning simply requires peace and quiet. Peace, quiet and structure. How is it possible to install as many of these individual student's workplaces as possible in a single room and still leave enough space for other activities? After all, the space available in a school is often limited.
Our suggested solution goes by the name “learning office�. This is a space for homework, concentrated learning and self-organised learning processes. Here, students have their own workplace which they can design however they choose. Everyone has their own tasks, or their own learning jobs, so to speak which they perform by themselves. If help is needed, a teacher or homework supervisor is close by to lend a hand.
Learning and working with LearnBox
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Learning office
PantoMove-LuPo Student's swivel chair
TriTable-II Triangular table
Cross Rectangular table
LearnBox Cabinet
InteractivePilon 84� display
Serie 800 Shelves
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Support
Floor-level learning When children spend the entire day at school, they often need places to complete their homework, with someone on-hand to help if needed. In primary school and lower grade, it's important to design these open areas and incorporate items in a visually appealing way - helping to promote active learning. Alongside conventional furniture such as tables and chairs, inviting, playful elements are important here. Elements that allow children to learn and work at floor level. Whether lying on their fronts or sitting and crouching, their posture should ideally match their natural learning behaviour. This provides variety to the space, giving children the freedom to help design and organise their everyday activity themselves - under the teacher's supervision.
Open spaces and support
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Free time
Enjoying free time to the fullest Periods of free time between learning and work phases help to provide balance and structure for children throughout the school day. Even at school it's almost possible to feel at home, provided there are dedicated open spaces for recovery and relaxation.
These areas should be inviting, with a homely, familiar appearance that belies a typical school environment. Child-friendly solutions such as seating surfaces and floor-level mats, help to achieve this in a way that best matches their natural body movement and typical behaviour at home. It's important to enjoy periods of free time to the fullest during a long school day, inspiring a desire for new challenges.
Open spaces and support
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Break
The time to get moving When a break approaches, the class becomes increasingly active with body movement. After periods of focused learning, children feel a strong, natural urge to move. Allowing freedom of movement increases their attention span and helps sustain concentration throughout the day. Playing, swaying and testing balance - a breaktime environment is the perfect opportunity to encourage and develop children's motor skills. With our child-friendly furniture, this is simplicity itself to achieve.
Open spaces and support
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Support
PantoSwing-LuPo Forward-sprung cantilever chair
Free time
Shift+ Base Student's desk, concave/convex
Shift+ Base Teacher's table in two fixed heights or continuously height-adjustable
Break
InteractivePilon 84� display
A child-friendly play and learning space. The longer children spend at school, the more important it is to have spaces where they can feel at ease - during free time, enjoying a break, or receiving support. Providing child-friendly furniture to help build a lively and varied school environment is vital. The Gugl cylindrical table with its robust plastic body is a good example.
Gugl is so light-weight that children have no difficulty using it. Under the cover plate, it offers ample storage space for carpets, mats and back support rolls, for example. What's more, Gugl is easy to manoeuvre, fits into any corner and can be quickly moved to the centre of activity. The cover panel is also available with a pen holder.
Open spaces and support
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Gugl, carpets, mats, back roll supports and stacking stones from the FloorFriends™ concept are the ideal complement to the Shift+ Base and Shift+ Landscape series furniture. When combined with these mobile student's tables, cabinets and seat modules, they can be used to their full potential. The result is child-friendly learning spaces that inspire well-being throughout the school day.
The stacking stones are another popular product. They are lightweight, durable and fun, allowing children to play, sway and test their motor skills. They also provide learning opportunities in a colourful, playful environment: Stacking stones are an individual, stimulating challenge for children of various age groups.
Shift+ Landscape Mobile shelving
Shift+ Landscape Mats, carpets and back support roles (FloorFriends™)
Gugl Stackable cylindrical table (FloorFriends™)
Hokki Active stool
Stapelstein Multifunctional Seating and play element (FloorFriends™)
TriTable-II Triangular table
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Base station for the teaching staff For teachers, a day at school also means a full day's work. What's needed is a dedicated space where they can concentrate without distractions. PantoMove-Soft Height-adjustable star-foot chair
Cross Individual table
LearnBox Cabinet
eddy Toolbag
A “base station” set-up has a range of uses and allows the staff room to fulfil other functions – such as providing areas for relaxation and quiet communication. It also provides a place of withdrawal where teachers can catch a respite between demanding periods of teaching. With differentiated areas for work and discussions, the staff room is equipped to meet the multifaceted demands of a typical teaching day: For informal team talks, an exchange of opinions in small groups, discussions involving all the teaching staff and individual work.
Serie 800 Cabinets and add-on cabinets, eddy cabinet
Serie Lounge Upholstered elements and occasional table
Last but not least, high-quality furniture and equipment shows a clear indication of respect and appreciation for teaching staff and their often demanding levels of work. An atmosphere in which people feel at ease also supports a healthy team culture among the teaching staff.
Staff room Rooms for teaching staff
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The power supply in the school A break-time snack isn't really sufficient to get through a long day at school. By lunchtime, everyone needs to properly refuel an inviting canteen is exactly the right place. A canteen is always an inspiring place to meet, talk and recover. It's a social hub at the heart of the school, where learners, teachers and workers often congregate: Younger and older students, teachers, administrators, support staff and guests. Our furniture caters perfectly for this varied range of users. Tables can quickly be arranged in rows, where large numbers of people can sit and eat. Smaller tables can be added to rows, or used to create cosy corners in a cafeteria. Lastly, a room used by so many people must be practical and easy to maintain. Here, the attention to details in our furniture can make all the difference: Are the tables and chairs robust? Can the surfaces be wiped clean easily? Can the chairs be suspended on or under the table top in order to sweep the floor? We consider all practicalities before we begin designing our furniture, incorporating innovative solutions wherever possible.
Canteen The lunch table
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Now one thing, now another Smaller schools don't necessarily require a large canteen. If space is short, the canteen may need to fulfil a variety of other activities during the day. Just how functional this type of multi-purpose space actually is, depends to a large extent on the furniture. It requires tables and chairs that are easy to combine, making it possible to create different configurations and layouts effortlessly. Furniture such as the stackable LiteTable, is a good example. Despite being light weight, it's extremely robust. Equipped with castors, it's easy
to move and can be combined together to form assemblies. They're also very easy to stack and wheel to the side of the room when not in use. The Puzzle free-form table is another shining example of versatility. The almost organic curves and indentations provide a large usable table surface. The precisely matched surface curves join seamlessly together too, so if a single table isn't enough, simply add others to accommodate larger groups.
The height-adjustable RondoLift-KF sitting and stand-at table can be moved wherever it's needed in the room. It can be used for lectures, for example. The InteractivePilon interactive display or the wall-mounted MediaPro-II media rail can also be used. However, when everyone sits down to eat together at lunchtime, these items don't interfere with the relaxed, well-being atmosphere.
The Compass-VF four-legged chair is a practical multi-purpose element. Stacked in the corner, it provides a back-up store that can be used whenever extra chairs are needed.
LiteTable Stackable tables
Compass-VF Four-legged chair
Multipurpose room
PantoMove-Soft Height-adjustable star-foot chair
RondoLift-KF Height-adjustable sitting and stand-at table
Puzzle Free-form table
InteractivePilon 84� display
Serie 800 Cabinets and shelves with property boxes
MediaPro-II Media rail with boards
The lunch table
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Good to know:
Certificates Labels of quality and environmental certificates for VS furniture and materials.
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Strictly monitored and safe We feel a responsibility towards our employees, our environment and society. Our corporate principles include sustainability in production and the durability of our furniture. We regularly subject our products to independent inspections regarding their quality, safety and environmental responsibility. We manufacture all our furniture in Germany in an environmentally responsible and equitable way. We design our tables and chairs to fulfil ergonomic criteria. Prestigious national and international certificates testify to our high standards in terms of environmentally responsible production quality.
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DIN EN 1021 DIN 54341
Fire protection classification in accordance with DIN EN 1021, Part 1 (medium), DIN EN 1021 Part 2 (medium) and DIN 54341 (high)
Label issued by the Healthy Backs Campaign (Aktion Gesunder Rücken e.V) for products that are very highly recommended due to their ergonomic design
„level – The BIFMA Sustainability Standard” awarded by the Business Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association
GS “tested safety” label – Awarded by the TÜV inspection authority on the basis of the German legislation on product safety
PEFC certificate for timber from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources
Quality label of the Federal association for posture and movement promotion (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Haltungs- und Bewegungsförderung e.V).
Pr f-Nr.
“Greenguard – Indoor Air Quality” certificate, the US equivalent of the LGA “pollutant-tested” certificate
LGA “pollutant-tested” certificate – Guarantees that the pollutant limit values correspond to or are well within the legal requirements
V01 000418 VS Art-No. 45-072-98
www.vs-moebel.de | www.vs-furniture.com VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken GmbH & Co. KG 97941 Tauberbischofsheim, Germany | Hochhäuser Straße 8 Tel: 09341-880 | Fax: 09341-88107 | vs@vs-moebel.de Export: Phone: +49-9341-88888 | Fax: +49-9341-88830 | vsexport@vs-furniture.com