Colour lockers for primary students of St. Marks

St. Marks is a primary school with over 150 years of history, located in the south of England. The school currently has 420 students.

Need

In recent years, the number of pupils enrolled at St. Marks has grown. Although the installations were extended to improve capacity, classrooms and corridors were increasingly crowded with pupils’ personal belongings such as coats, blazers, schoolbags, etc. This eventually affected the school’s activity due to:

• Time spent by teachers on keeping order in these areas instead of the academic activity.
• Risks of pupils tripping.
• Failure to meet safety evacuation measures as pupils’ belongings were blocking emergency exits.

In the light of this situation, the PTA and school management decided to replace hangers with lockers.

Solution

POLYPAL advised St. Marks on the appropriate type of locker and most practical and suitable location for maximising the space available.

With the funds provided by the PTA, as a pilot, first 120 lockers were installed for ages 5-6. The lockers were placed the length of the corridors outside each classroom, providing a colourful atmosphere.

Children aged 5 and 6, delighted with their new lockers, asked for permission to decorate them on the inside with drawings, photographs and posters. Each pupil created their own ID card for placing on the locker door and customising it, making the children feel the locker was theirs and encouraging them to look after it.

The school’s locker installation was a success for teachers and students alike. Thanks to the lockers solving order and safety issues, shortly afterwards it was decided to assign new areas for lockers so that every pupil could have a storage zone for their personal belongings and school materials.

To distinguish between the infants and primary school area, lockers with different colour compositions were used. A bright colour range was chosen for the primary school students, whereas more pastel tones were used on the doors for the infants’ lockers.