School improvements

[AM369]

I'm looking to make some small but noticeable improvements school wide that showcases the business/professional look of the school.

 

I've listed some ideas that came to mind below but if anyone has anything that has gone down well or can provide an existing implementation of such ideas that would be great. Any pros and cons feedback would also help.

 

 

- School site showcase via drone footage to be displayed on a signage screen in reception

 

- ambient music to be played in the reception area (where students, staff and visitors all enter)

 

- upgrade the £30 webcams for key staff who are heavy on online meetings

 

- cable trunking for areas where cables are on show (probably should be doing this already!)

 

- plug socket covers to hide black plugs to be easier on the eyes (in offices and visitor areas rather than in classrooms)

 

- Ambient back lighting for TVs such as Philips or GoVee light strips

[Rob_D]

- ambient music to be played in the reception area (where students, staff and visitors all enter)

Carful with this one, playing music in "public areas" can be a bit of a licencing nightmare.

- plug socket covers to hide black plugs to be easier on the eyes (in offices and visitor areas rather than in classrooms)- Ambient back lighting for TVs such as Philips or GoVee light strips

Why? I've never understood the appeal/point of backlighting TVs and how noticeable would it be in well lit room.

I get wanting professional looking cable management, but socket covers seems a bit much, if it were here, the staff would wind up taking them off and losing them.

 

Drone footage is a great idea, we had a promo video done which included drone footage (along with classroom clips and student interviews), which is on our website and playing on the reception display screen). I'm a big fan of cable management, so I'd always go with trunking where possible. During a recent classroom refurb, we had all the room trunking replaced with desk-height dado all along the front wall with all the power/data/AV put through it.

 

Some of the things we've done here that have made a difference are below, but for me the biggest thing when it comes to making the school look "professional" is the decorating and furniture.

- unified AV solution across all the classrooms (our classrooms look way better now we have the same smartboard/soundbar than when we a grab bag of different projector/smartboard/amps across the school). Okay, not so small, but worth doing.

- digital signage around the school using consistent formatting/branding (staff really like having the digital signage, and having a template or at least a frame you can drop content into makes it look more professional IMO)

- dual stands for offices that have dual monitors (helps with a clean desk and with cable management, our staff like having them)

- wireless keybaord/mouse for "front of house" staff to help with a clean desk.

[Roberto]

I'm looking to make some small but noticeable improvements school wide that showcases the business/professional look of the school.

 

I've listed some ideas that came to mind below but if anyone has anything that has gone down well or can provide an existing implementation of such ideas that would be great. Any pros and cons feedback would also help.

 

 

- School site showcase via drone footage to be displayed on a signage screen in reception

 

- ambient music to be played in the reception area (where students, staff and visitors all enter)

 

- upgrade the £30 webcams for key staff who are heavy on online meetings

 

- cable trunking for areas where cables are on show (probably should be doing this already!)

 

- plug socket covers to hide black plugs to be easier on the eyes (in offices and visitor areas rather than in classrooms)

 

- Ambient back lighting for TVs such as Philips or GoVee light strips

 

If you’re looking for improvements, I’d be asking of each thing in your list, “what does it improve?”. How will these ideas make the place safer, or improve the delivery of teaching?

 

So why the drone thing? Why the Muzak? Unless the objective here is to prevent loitering? Why the backlighting of displays?

 

Better cameras for people who video conference all day is a winner, as is finishing the cabling into trunking. Plug covers? Maybe in visitor areas I guess but just how offensive is a plug in an office really?

[Ditto]

Use MS Forms/Google Forms or other tool to run a survey rather than guess what users want. Then deliver against what the 'customer' requested. It might surprise - e.g. another thread suggested photocopier training! I'm IT savvy, but modern copies probably offer more than I realise.

[jmak]

Not sure if you're state or private school. If state, there should be a school development plan. I'd start there. If it doesn't add to teaching and learning, you shouldn't be spending money on it - although creating a place that staff and pupils can be proud of will have a positive effect, so some outlay could probably be justified.

 

I think digital signage can be effective - although be sure that someone will produce content. I've been in several schools/businesses where they're switched off or have out of date information which doesn't add to a professional image.

 

If it's not in place already, a house style for all communications is cheap/free and creates a good impression, even if no one can quite say why.

 

I'd much rather have plants than backlit TVs or muzak for public areas, but that's personal preference. If you do go for music, you'll need to be careful. Everyone has different taste, you need to not drive the people who work nearby mad and if in reception areas, make sure it's at a low enough volume that it doesn't cause difficulty for people with hearing impairment.

[Fox]

Webcams seem like the most sensible proposal, improve your users day to day lives and as they will be communicating with parents sometimes on camera, it looks more professional.

The rest seems very low priority imho.

[LukeRowberry]

standardised branded backgrounds for online meetings always looks good too.

[pete]

The reception area is the workplace for reception staff and often has adjoining SLT offices. Proceed carefully lest they (justifiably) hunt you with sticks if you suggest music.

[Rob_D]

The reception area is the workplace for reception staff and often has adjoining SLT offices. Proceed carefully lest they (justifiably) hunt you with sticks if you suggest music.

I remember one time years ago we were asked to pipe "elevator music" into the halls during parent's evening. That idea was shelved pretty quick.

[MunkySpanner]

We were recently asked to put music in the reception area. Repurposed an old active speaker on the wall with an old Samsung Galaxy phone in the roof (an original i9000 still in the box that has been sat in the safe as an emergency phone for the last decade!) Found a load of royalty free music online. Just generic classical/jazz type stuff. Been sat there playing away on a loop 24/7 without a stutter for the last 6 months. We definitely need it. When the reception area was refurbed, they built a couple of meeting rooms off the foyer for meetings with parents etc. Quickly found out anyone in waiting in reception could hear what was happening in the meeting rooms. The music isn't loud but it helps to mask it a bit.

 

Trunking for cables is a definite. We get notified on health and safety inspections if there is an even an end cap or corner joint cover missing on ours.

 

As for the rest, if you've got the cash to spare, sure, make it look nice. If not, then teaching and learning should be the priority.

[DrBeaker]

...I think digital signage can be effective - although be sure that someone will produce content. I've been in several schools/businesses where they're switched off or have out of date information which doesn't add to a professional image.

 

How did you overcome this challenge though? I've never found a solution to it.

 

If it's not in place already, a house style for all communications is cheap/free and creates a good impression, even if no one can quite say why.

 

What do you mean here? For years of houses like they had years ago?

[jmak]

How did you overcome this challenge though? I've never found a solution to it.

In my last place when I raised that point the idea got shelved [emoji16]

Where I am now there's a waiting list to get a turn to put stuff on them!

 

 

What do you mean here? For years of houses like they had years ago?

Just consistency in style for everything published on paper, online, on notice boards. Set up templates in Office with preset fonts (including titles and headings) and colours. Try and have bullet points, numbered lists, text in tables properly aligned. It looks smarter, stops (well, discourages) horrible random fonts that don't render properly and makes the message clearer if there's not a whole rainbow of colors on every document.

[pete]

Just consistency in style for everything published on paper, online, on notice boards. Set up templates in Office with preset fonts (including titles and headings) and colours. Try and have bullet points, numbered lists, text in tables properly aligned. It looks smarter, stops (well, discourages) horrible random fonts that don't render properly and makes the message clearer if there's not a whole rainbow of colors on every document.

 

(my emphasis). "Well done, now everything looks equally horrible" is definitely a potential outcome.

 

My recommendation is to pay a freelancer with a backbone who'll stand up for themselves and tell clients the polite version of "Your idea is terrible and here's why" so you get something palatable.

 

Yes, this will cost money but you (IT) will not be subject to the whims/meetings with every SLT member who feels they need to contribute and so it's money well spent.

[DrBeaker]

(my emphasis). "Well done, now everything looks equally horrible" is definitely a potential outcome.

 

My recommendation is to pay a freelancer with a backbone who'll stand up for themselves and tell clients the polite version of "Your idea is terrible and here's why" so you get something palatable.

 

Yes, this will cost money but you (IT) will not be subject to the whims/meetings with every SLT member who feels they need to contribute and so it's money well spent.

 

Everything before was sporadically poop, it's now simply more reliable poop instead.

[Andrew_C]

Everything before was sporadically poop, it's now simply more reliable poop instead.

Quick - apply for BS9001 before it all gets shredded again.

[PotNoodleTech]

large osters and whole wall displays is a good way of making things look a bit more like a modern establishment especially if combined with a repaint. We've done quite a lot of that in house.