Class Act

Smarter Spaces is a colour, design, planning and project management service developed especially to help empower schools to improve their learning environment. Our mission is simple: to help students and teachers thrive through the power of design and colour in schools.

As part of the initiative, we run a yearly Young Designers Competition to challenge schools and their students to win £5,000 of design and decoration services, plus bespoke learning resources. Students across the UK were encouraged to choose an area in their school that would benefit from a makeover, how they would like it to look and why.

One of the winners in 2016 was St Mary and St Joseph's Primary School, where six of their pupils championed the competition and the colour transformation.

Pupils at the school said their 'intervention space' was 'dull' and 'boring' and needed a makeover to make it warmer and more inviting for their friends, particularly those with special educational needs.

Their design was based on the phrase; 'the sky is the limit', and featured long, green grass and a big blue sky complete with fluffy white clouds, which gave the space colour and a calming quality.

To complete the classroom, pupils worked closely with Dulux’s professional designers to create a learning space which supports pupils' learning and creativity.

Simone Addy, Assistant Head at St Mary and St Joseph's Primary School said: 'The Smarter Spaces Young Designers Competition has been a fantastic experience and has empowered the pupils to take ownership over their school. Working as a team helped improve the pupils' teamwork skills, while collaborating with Dulux to bring their design to life allowed them to thrive through using their imaginations and creativity.'

'The pupils were really excited to see their design up on the walls when they returned following the summer break and felt a real sense of pride seeing the result of their hard work.'

Ilka Ali, student at St Mary and St Joseph's Primary School added: 'I really enjoyed planning how our classroom would look. It's very nice to learn in our new classroom because it's full of nature which makes it is easier to learn.'

Find out more about the Smarter Spaces and how your school can get involved.