Newsom (1963)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Contents, Introduction, Principal recommendations

Part 1 Findings
Chapter 1 Education for all
Chapter 2 The pupils, the schools, the problems
Chapter 3 Education in the slums
Chapter 4 Objectives
Chapter 5 Finding approaches
Chapter 6 The school day, homework, extra-curricular activities
Chapter 7 Spiritual and moral development
Chapter 8 The school community
Chapter 9 Going out into the world
Chapter 10 Examinations and assessments
Chapter 11 Building for the future
Chapter 12 The teachers needed

Part 2 The teaching situation
Chapter 13 What should secondary imply?
Chapter 14 An education that makes sense
Chapter 15 Attainments and achievement
Chapter 16 The subjects and the curriculum
Chapter 17 The practical subjects
Chapter 18 Science and mathematics
Chapter 19 The humanities
Chapter 20 School organisation and staff deployment

Part 3 What the survey shows
Chapter 21 The 1961 survey
Chapter 22 The boys and girls
Chapter 23 The work they do
Chapter 24 The men and women who teach them
Chapter 25 The schools they go to

Acknowledgements

Appendix I List of witnesses
Appendix II Sex education
Appendix III Deployment of teachers
Appendix IV Letter to Minister on teacher training
Appendix V Statistical detail

Index

A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England)

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1963
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 11 Building for the future
[pages 87 - 97]

262. It is no part of our task to elaborate a blueprint for school buildings, playing fields and equipment. Nor would we wish to do so at a time when there is need for bold experiment in the content and methods of education for many pupils in the secondary schools.

263. We cannot, however, ignore the physical environment of the schools. Educational experiment has usually taken place in buildings designed to meet past or current educational ideas, rather than those which it is the object of the experiments to test or develop. This has inhibited experiment, and made the results difficult to interpret. In our view, the nature of the new educational solutions that are needed will involve major alterations in current school design.

264. This is clear from much of the evidence we have received. This unquestionably challenges the accepted curriculum and teaching methods, and consequently and inevitably, the accepted design of the accommodation. For example:

'A change in physical environment, a change in curriculum and a change in educational approach ...'

'Secondary school buildings will need to be specifically designed for a more informal and less academic approach ... There seems little doubt that the existing subject curriculum and traditional timetable are not meeting fully the needs of pupils of average and less than average ability.'

'... and the necessity for research and experiment in this field is emphasised'.

'Is it even clear, for instance, that the traditional sort of school day ... is necessarily the right sort of pattern for the group we are now discussing?'

'... More could be learnt from the curriculum and methods used in good special schools and classes.'

'The teachers' job with this age group should be accomplished through group work and elective study.'

'... releasing them for one day each week to work in a technical college.'

'Workshops designed in a new way and in new groupings.'

'These practical rooms need not be very large, because they should be used only by small groups.'

'There still remains a great deal of scope for extending education outside the school buildings.'

266. We recognise that this situation may be thought to pose an impossible dilemma. On the one hand, it can be argued that if so many schools fall below current standards, and some of them far below, all available resources should be concentrated on meeting those needs, without for the time being attempting to substitute different and probably more expensive standards. On the other hand, it can be argued with almost equal force that it would be educationally wrong, and an unwise use of resources, to build or remodel so many schools to meet yesterday's needs.

267. In our view, this dilemma must be faced and resolved. We believe that it can be, but only by creating new knowledge on which to base the necessary judgements on the size of the building programme needed to meet current and future requirements, and on the timing of changes in building policy. Accordingly, we believe that a boldly experimental approach is needed not only to establish educational needs, and the means of reflecting them in a new physical environment, but also as a basis for formulating future policy for school building. Nevertheless, we do not think that generations of school children should be condemned to existing conditions until experiments have continued long enough to establish new standards.

268. Fortunately, the Development Group of the Ministry's Architects and Building Branch were already thinking along similar lines, and we are grateful to the Ministry for making available to us the diagrams and comment which follow. We found that these illustrated very well some of the ideas we were forming and we decided to include them in our report; but the Ministry is continuing its investigations and neither we nor it should be regarded as committed to any particular solutions. None of the diagrams which follow is intended as a fully developed design for part of a complete school. Nor do the diagrams together set out to cover all aspects of a school's work and activities.

Some examples of an experimental approach supplied by the Development Group of the Ministry's Architects and Building Branch

I. The diagrams are an attempt to give architectural application to the following assumptions:

(a) that for part of the time some pupils will be out in the adult world on their own;

(b) that the time they spend 'on the campus' will be so arranged that they will be able to carry through a particular job of work, or pursue a particular interest with reasonable continuity - i.e. that the day will not be fragmented into 35 minute particles;

(c) that they will have a personal interest and concern in the actual running of the community and the actual maintenance of the grounds and buildings;

(d) that each will have some degree of choice in the work he or she does;

(e) that it will be hard to draw firm demarcation lines either between subjects or between the practical and the academic;

(f) that for part of the time pupils will work individually on both practical and reference studies, but with experts and helpers always available;

and for part of the time in groups of varying sizes (half a dozen or so for special coaching; 15-20 for a discussion group; 50 or 60 listening to a lecture or watching a film);

(g) that clubs and societies will form an integral part of the educational course;

(h) that each person, as well as belonging to a number of working groups and societies, will also be a member of a social club, the organisation of which will be partly the responsibility of the pupils;

(i) that the staff will consist of an interesting mixture of teachers who have come through the normal grammar school/training college or university channels, and other qualified teachers with a variety of backgrounds. In addition, they will be supplemented by occasional help from expert outside persons, and by visiting speakers and discussion leaders - perhaps an industrialist, a politician or a minister of religion, for instance;

(j) that the staff will work in small groups, each with a modest HQ of its own, and each responsible for the pastoral care and the individual work programme of a number of the pupils. There will also be accommodation for the staff as a whole, to enable its members to meet regularly both formally and informally, and to preserve the sense of unity and corporate responsibility for the working and social life of the school;

(k) that the pupils will similarly be divided into socially identifiable groups, each with accommodation reflecting in some way or other the group's identity, and each with a stable relationship with one or more members of the staff;

II. Diagrams 1, 2 and 3 are all examples of ways in which the accommodation might provide for a move away from the traditional division of the curriculum into separate subjects, towards an approach to teaching in which different activities are viewed as facets of the whole, with each facet informing and vitalising all others.

III. In the Centre shown in Diagram 1 there is a group of teaching staff who are responsible for a variety of work connected with sciences and crafts. Here there are pupils working in groups of various sizes, or individually. Some are engaged in craftwork - woodwork, casting, glazing, soldering, clay modelling, carving. Others are making scientific investigations, both indoors and out. Others are engaged in work connected with the grounds and buildings. Some are drawing and designing; some are reading reference books; some are writing up reports and sorting out material. All are involved in a mixture of practical skills, reference, writing or drawing.

IV. To the right, as one enters, there is a shop window displaying some of the things designed and made here (more are exhibited inside, with full working drawings and reports). Behind this is a small pottery and modelling studio, opening onto a covered area for carving. The central circulation area provides a visual and physical connection between the various workshop areas to the right, the reference and design areas to the left, and the indoor and outdoor spaces for science.

V. There are groups of people working in the studios, group rooms and drawing bays, as well as in the workshops and laboratories. A few people are mending machinery in the large covered area which links the wood shop, the construction shop and the groundsman's office. (Others are out constructing a tennis court or a building with quantities, calculations, scaled drawings, reporting, etc. included as part of the job). There is a group in the construction shop setting out the frame of a garden shed with full-size details chalked on the wall. There are also a few working in the garden and the greenhouse.

Diagram 1 Science and crafts centre

VI. The simple flat-floored drama room shown in Diagram 2 is not a theatre (although tiered seating could be set up for a small audience on folding platform units), but a setting for everyday dramatic activities where experiments are made in different forms of action and movement, lighting, and scenic effects. Costumes and properties can be designed and made in the adjoining studio, which is equipped for light craftwork, drawing and painting. It is planned round a central materials store and service unit, and has large uninterrupted wall surfaces for murals and displays. These two spaces are higher than the rest, with galleries over the low curtained recess and drama store, thus providing additional space for storage, experimental lighting, equipment and acting.

VII. Off the studio are several reference and seminar rooms for small group or individual work, one of them with projection facilities, another with reference books and periodicals. There is, also, a small sound, lighting and television studio where record playing, sound effects and radio equipment can be used, and in which there is also a simple television camera channel.

VIII. Much of the musical work has links with the drama and movement. For smaller orchestral or choral work the music room is appropriate, but on occasions the drama studio is used. In addition to the practice rooms are small listening booths wired up for tape recording and record playing. There is also a store for instruments.

Diagram 2 Drama music and art centre

IX. In the centre shown in Diagram 3 a wide range of crafts can be pursued. The various studios surround a small open garden court for outdoor work and display, and each studio leads out to a veranda for work under cover. At the entrance there are areas for display. To the right of these is a small room for group discussions and the reading of reference books. The five studios are interconnected by common work areas, but at the same time a measure of separation is provided for the specialist equipment. Thus the bay for block making and printing leads to the drawing and painting area. This in turn leads, through folding doors, into the textile studio designed for fabric printing, weaving and embroidery. Continuing anti-clockwise there are areas offering wide scope for three dimensional work including the use of woods, metals, plaster and clay. Storage is provided for small equipment under benches, in cupboards and drawers, and there are store rooms for the large quantities of materials and work which accumulate wherever there is lively craft work in progress. Such a centre might offer courses both to pupils and and adults, and local craftsmen might be part-time members of the staff.

Diagram 3 Arts centre

X. Diagram 4 is an example of one of the ways in which accommodation might be provided for the younger of the pupils with whom we are concerned. It provides clearly identifiable homes for the pupils and their teachers, without either imposing or making impossible the traditional pattern of one teacher to one class; but it is assumed that a small group of adults together plan the varying patterns of work and recreation. It also provides a social centre for the group as a whole, and many and varied opportunities for using whatever approach to teaching is best suited to capture the interest and imagination of the pupils.

XI. As one approaches this Centre across the paved garden court one sees that the accommodation is divided broadly into three intercommunicating parts: to the left and right a series of spaces designed for groups of roughly 100 or 120 children; and straight ahead a common room and lunch area overlooking the veranda and garden.

XII. The working areas on either side consist in principle of a central work studio and resource area, connected to rooms of varying size and character which can be adjusted for different kinds of groups. In these rooms there are areas in which a few people can work on their own, low window seats and working surfaces, plenty of storage and display space, and small bays for the teachers' records and equipment. In addition, the staff office near the entrance is also suitable for small group work, special coaching or meetings. The central studio has sinks, study bays, workshop facilities and - most important - a resource store designed for a rich display of materials and objects to encourage creative work.

XIII. Such a working and social centre can provide opportunities for a broad approach to learning, in which both theory and practice can be mixed in varying degrees. It has elements in it both of the formal classroom and of the workshop, craftroom or laboratory. Whereas new techniques and skills will be acquired in more specialised accommodation elsewhere, individual exploration and improvisation will be encouraged here.

Diagram 4 Centre for younger pupils

XIV. Diagrams 5 and 6 are examples of possible ways of meeting some of the needs of the young adults at the top of the secondary schools, and of those who have just left, on a basis designed to build bridges between the world of the school and the world outside.

XV. This club house shown in Diagram 5 is primarily a social centre for older pupils and adults, but it is also used for teaching and study purposes. There are three parts to it: on the right, the social, study and dining areas; in the centre the games room; and on the left the home management centre, over which is a small visitors' bedroom wing for lecturers, students, exchange visitors from abroad, or possibly a member of the staff or a few of the pupils. In the right hand block there are some older pupils helping in the main kitchen and dining room with the preparation and serving of lunch - as a preliminary to possible further training in catering. They have a smaller, separate room where they can work on their own. Others are running the shop and snack bar. Others again are working in the group study room off the common room.

XVI. Across the veranda in the home management centre, the staff group includes the visiting nurse, doctor and social worker, and others are called in from time to time. The people here are concerned with the study of health, family and community. There is again a mixture of book work and practice - but the practice includes real situations. Some people are running the visitors' wing upstairs and the small dining room and kitchen: they entertain visitors and order supplies, look after the services, laundering and equipment under the guidance of the housekeeper and caretaker. Some are learning about maintenance, repairs and services in the home workshop next to the boiler and meters. Others are dressmaking or making curtains for an old peoples' home. A few are typing reports and accounts. At certain times there are films, television and discussions in the larger central area. The first aid unit is here and beds are available for those feeling unwell.

Diagram 5 Club house

XVII. Diagram 6 shows a less elaborate centre, designed primarily as a common meeting ground - a centre for which perhaps 120 or so young adults at the top of the school might largely assume responsibility. It consists of three parts: a central entrance space with a snack counter; to the right the lavatories (with a powder room for the girls), and lockers for all personal belongings; to the left, three common rooms. Two of these are connected by sliding folding doors so that a larger space can be made available for a dance or a lecture. Each room has window seats in bays for small conversational groups, shelves for books and magazines, individual study or writing places, comfortable chairs, carpets and curtains. In addition there is a small office for committee meetings and administrative work. This setting is designed to provide a common ground between the oldest pupils and their friends in the adult world.

XVIII. We would emphasise that none of these diagrams has been prepared as part of a fully developed design for a complete school: they are included simply to illustrate the ways in which architectural thinking ought to go hand in hand with, and to contribute to, the study of the educational problems to which we have drawn attention. Moreover, the diagrams are all firmly rooted in the educational ideas and practice of teachers who are now grappling with the problems with which we are concerned, often with little or no help from their physical environment.

Diagram 6 Centre for older pupils

270. The experiments which we have in mind should not therefore be confined to one or two aspects of the curriculum, or one or two experimental school buildings. We wish to see a much more comprehensive approach, in which all aspects of the work of the schools will be studied in a context which ensures that building design will both inform, and be informed by, developing educational ideas. While therefore we certainly consider that a limited number of experimental projects involving whole schools should be mounted with government support, as part of the further studies which we recommend elsewhere in this report, we should also like to see a major development of local initiative. There are many opportunities available within the present building programme, and within current cost limits, to provide buildings designed to test and develop new educational ideas. And even where such projects have to be limited in scope, they may nonetheless make an invaluable contribution to the creation of new knowledge and experience. We also hope that the training colleges will play a part in this work: we should like to see a number of experimental projects explicitly designed for use in connection with teacher training, both initial and in-service training.

271. Finally, we would emphasise that we are not urging the immediate raising of the cost limits per place for new school building generally. We fully recognise the dilemma facing those responsible for school building policy: within any given size of building programme, higher standards must mean fewer new schools, and a slower rate of modernisation of those schools that do not need complete replacement. At the same time, we consider that there is urgent need both for a major rebuilding programme to improve the conditions under which many secondary schools now work, and for a series of experimental projects. We believe that the additional capital expenditure involved in both would be fully justified. In a rapidly changing educational situation, it is vital to keep ahead of events. Unless we establish what is needed for the future, we shall not be able to judge at what point, or in what respects, standards ought to be raised: we shall not know which of the new needs can be met simply by a redisposition of existing resources: and we shall not know what opportunities exist for taking future requirements into account in the design of current building projects. We do not have to wait for the millennium before making a start.

Recommendations

(a) There is a need for reassessment of accommodation needs in relation to changing educational patterns. (paras. 263, 264)

(b) There is a strong case for government backing for a limited number of experiments in building design, to be associated also with research into educational methods, teacher training, and the pattern of the school programme. These should start now, to provide information for future large scale development. (paras. 267, 269-271)

(c) The improvement of conditions in existing schools should not be delayed while experimental designs are tried out. We draw attention to the functional deficiencies of many schools in our survey, particularly in relation to the inadequate provision of practical rooms, science laboratories, libraries, and in the size and design of classrooms. Some of these deficiencies which are due to overcrowding in otherwise good modern buildings are relative, and could be relieved. But other buildings, particularly in slum areas, are so totally inadequate as to require urgent replacement. (paras. 265, 271. cf. also Chapter 25)

Attention is drawn here also to other points relating to buildings appearing in the report:

(d) Few schools at present have adequate facilities for the social needs of older pupils. Extended extra-curricular programmes are likely to make increased demands on buildings in the future. (Chapters 6 and 8)

(e) In the evolution of new designs, the neighbourhood needs of the community should be considered, especially in heavily built-up areas. (Chapter 3, paras. 71, 73; Chapter 6 paras. 146-148 and Chapter 17, para. 409)

(f) Due provision should be made in all schools for developments in educational methods requiring new equipment or the more extensive use of existing types of equipment, including all audio-visual aids. (Chapter 9 paras. 215, 216 and Chapter 19, para. 496)