{"id":5071,"date":"2021-06-17T12:15:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T01:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/sceggs\/?post_type=article&p=5071"},"modified":"2021-06-17T12:15:40","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T01:15:40","slug":"light-her-path-4","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/sceggs\/article\/light-her-path-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Light Her Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Benefits of Good Architecture in Schools\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our time at school is formative, shaping us educationally and also more broadly as a person. Beautiful design in school buildings can enhance the experience of students and teachers in both obvious and unexpected ways.\u00a0 The Light Her Path Capital Campaign is raising funds to redevelop Wilkinson House to ensure it is fit for the demands of 21st<\/sup> century learning. The new plans also deliver a building that will inspire, melding respect for the history of the building with leading edge design. As Winston Churchill said, \u201cWe shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A great deal is expected of school buildings.\u00a0 We want them to be conducive to learning.\u00a0 We want them to inspire the teachers and the students within them.\u00a0 We expect them to be part of the process that shapes learners and ideas. We want them to help foster unpredictable and imaginative encounters with people and ideas.<\/p>\n

Importantly, we want them to reinforce the cultural values of the school and its surrounds.\u00a0 We want them to serve the present and the future of education and to incorporate technology and its evolution. \u00a0At the same time, buildings are also expected to talk to the heritage and shape of the school campus, and the social character of its community.<\/p>\n

We understand the benefits of incorporating natural light, the comfort of natural air flow and the importance of demonstrating sustainability.\u00a0 And yet a school building needs also to be functional and robust enough to withstand the antics and unexpected movement of many, many children and teenagers.<\/p>\n

School buildings are also significant markers in the lives of their users.\u00a0 Memories are made in schools – This is the staircase where I first encountered my best friend\u2026 this is the science lab that sparked a lifelong love of chemistry\u2026 this is the stage where I tried out for the musical\u2026 this is where I taught my first Year 12 class.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the UK, a government analysis of primary and secondary schools and a nation-wide survey of teachers showed that 9 in 10 teachers believe school design is important and specifically that layout and circulation is important for good pupil behaviour.\u00a0 Also significant for the UK government, good school design was shown to enhance productivity and reduce running costs.<\/p>\n

SCEGGS\u2019 plans for Wilkinson House are more modest than many school projects, but we remain ambitious in seeking to combine all of these elements in the new Wilkinson House.\u00a0 If you have seen the plans from the architect (Smart Design Studios) and experienced the enthusiasm of Jenny Allum and other members of the school community for the proposed redevelopment, you will understand that it is already engendering excitement and a great sense of pride and identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Light Her Path Capital Campaign is seeking to raise $20 million:<\/p>\n