The Smarter Spaces Inset Day

The Smarter Spaces Inset Day brought together a coalition of influential figures from the worlds of education, design and policymaking who believe in the power of classroom design to help support learning and teaching. These innovators not only shared their ideas, but also informed the development of the Smarter Spaces campaign commitments as we prepared to take it to the national level in 2016.

Commitment 3: working with key government departments and education bodies to raise the agenda for better learning environments

Following Ian Wybron's (Researcher, Demos) presentation on how to work with government and education bodies, the group discussed the importance of demonstrating that people, including the Smarter Spaces coalition, are passionate about the campaign. In particular, that the campaign can support the policy agenda, which currently focuses on character development.

When considering ways for the Smarter Spaces coalition to work with government and education bodies, the group suggested the following actions:

1.Crafting messaging that is tailored to each audience and individual - e.g. identifying how the campaign can support individual agendas such as character development to secure support from government departments and education bodies.

2.Drawing on local politicians to serve as advocates for schools in their constituency that have transformed their learning environments - e.g. focussing on salient issues, including pupil attendance, the growing number of teachers who are leaving the profession and continued professional development, as a hook for engagement.

3.Integrating British values into the curriculum - e.g. identifying how the Learner-Teacher Council could incorporate aspects around democracy and pupil involvement.

4.Ensuring Ofsted considers the importance of the learning environment as the new framework comes into effect - e.g. identifying one or two people at Ofsted to meet with and ensuring the 'pitch' reflects their agenda in relation to pupil behaviour and welfare.

Dulux is committed to ensuring that the Smarter Spaces campaign draws upon a broad range of people and that their diverse experiences and expertise feed into the understanding of the learning environment.

Doing so means that those who really matter are able to actively participate in driving the campaign forward. We would welcome your thoughts on how we can work together to grow understanding of Smarter Spaces while inspiring and supporting schools across the country to make the change in the years to come.