A FAMILIAR SIGHT IN YOUR SCHOOL?
.... TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT LOCKERS.
www.link51.com/lockers
SchoollockersUK
SchoolLockersUK
THE RISKS
Budgets! Lesson plans! Parents evening! Fire inspection! OFSTED visit! PTA meeting! With so many things to
think about and so little time to get it all done, storage for pupil belongings can seem like the last thing you
need to be worrying about.
However, if your school uses coat pegs to store coats and bags, storage could be having a bigger impact than you think on your space, time
and resource and it may surprise you to know it can even have a detrimental impact on your fire inspection.
CLUTTER & TRIP HAZARDS
If your school uses coat pegs for the storage of pupil belongings
we are sure you are more than familiar with the sight of coats
and bags strewn across the cloakroom or corridor floor, especially
after break or lunch time.
As well as looking a mess these items cause trip hazards for pupils and
staff alike. With children rushing to get outside to play, accidents caused
by tripping on clutter is far from uncommon and is a health and safety
risk you don’t need to take.
100% of parents surveyed said their
children have lost items of uniform
at school in the last 12 months
BLOCKED ESCAPE ROUTES
According to the Department for Education about 1 in 20
schools suffers a fire with 56% being started deliberately.
With this in mind the Fire Safety Risk Assessment Guidance
for Education Premises, published by the Government in
2006 advises that coat storage should not be located along
exit routes, this is however except for the use of
non-combustible lockers.
In recent years this guidance has seen fire inspectors and even
insurance companies advising schools not to locate coat pegs
along corridors. With dedicated cloakrooms becoming a thing of
the past as the additional space is required for growing pupil
numbers, choosing to use coat pegs is leaving schools with
limited locations to store pupil belongings.
LOST PROPERTY
It isn’t just health and safety that is affected by the use of coat pegs, lost
property levels are also known to increase when coat pegs are used.
All of these issues have a time and resource implication that may be overlooked as
minimal, however when you add up all of the time spent picking up coats and bags,
helping pupils look for their belongings and filling in accident forms for trips and falls,
it becomes clear that coat pegs could be creating a drain on your time.
It isn’t just an issue for teachers, 100% of the parents we surveyed said their child has
lost an item of clothing at school in the last twelve months, with 60% going onto to
say this was extremely frustrating and costly.
The Facts
CONGESTION AND TRAFFIC FLOW
Every school is the same regardless of size or the number of pupils, when the break and lunch bell rings
pupils rush to get their coats and head outside for play time. Where your storage is located and how
easy it is to access can have a major impact on whether these peak times of the day cause congestion or
a seamless transition from classroom to playground.
Coat pegs are often awkward and messy to access making break time a nightmare for teachers. Trying to monitor
the smooth flow of pupils around the school whilst keeping an eye out for potential hazards and ensuring the
reception class doesn’t get squashed in the stampede is just another example of poor storage creating a drain on
time and resource.
MESSY AND UNTIDY
Coat pegs quite simply create a messy and untidy
environment, even when coats and bags are hung
up properly first thing in the morning having them
on show looks cluttered.
With so much time and effort being spent making
colourful and engaging educational displays for the
corridors and with more classes taking place outside of
the classroom, it's a shame for inadequate storage to
ruin the schools appearance.
www.link51.com/lockers
STORAGE SPACE OR LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT?
With 240,000 additional pupil places required in primary schools across the
UK by 2015 it’s not surprising that more and more lessons are taking place
outside of the classroom.
Corridors, communal areas and even the school hall are all being utilised for
break out classes and project work. With this in mind, is a back drop of messy
and untidy coats and bags really the most inspiring environment for your pupils
to learn in, after all a clutter environment leads to a cluttered mind.
SchoollockersUK
SchoolLockersUK
DID YOU KNOW
THE MOST SPACE EFFICIENT SOLUTION IS...
12 peg spaces
18 locker compartments
61
%
3
2 metres
2 metres
Of schools surveyed
thought lockers use
more space than
coat pegs.
We carried out a poll with schools across the UK asking them which
solution takes up more space coat pegs or lockers, 61% of respondents
said that lockers take up more space than coat pegs. If this was your first
thought it may surprise you to learn that you can actually accommodate
storage for more pupils in the same or less space using lockers.
Take a 2 meter stretch of corridor, along this you would fit 12 coat pegs,
however using 3-door three quarter height lockers (1382mm high) you would
fit 18 locker compartments, providing you with storage for 6 additional pupils,
or if space is at a premium this would allow you to reduce the storage area
required.
NO PEGS IN CORRIDORS
PEGS
Fire inspectors and insurance companies alike are taking heed of Government
advice not to locate coat pegs along corridors. Fire inspectors are particularly in
favour of this guidance as it means that in the instance of a fire they don’t need to
search through piles of coats to ensure there are no students, in addition having a
clutter free corridor means an emergency exit situation can be carried out quickly
and safely.
The Fire Safety Risk Assessment Guidance for Education Premises also advises that only
non-combustible lockers are used along corridors, Link 51 Locker solutions steel lockers are
non-combustible and they are also manufactured to BS4680, the specification for clothes
lockers. By choosing lockers over coat pegs you can be certain that you are conforming to
best practice fire safety advice.
TRAFFIC FLOW
Because lockers can be used safely in corridors you are able to move them out of
centralised cloakrooms where bottleneck situations can easily occur.
By splitting lockers into multiple areas such as the corridors outside classrooms you are able
to direct groups of children to different areas to collect their coats and bags, reducing the
‘stampede’ effect that causes issues for so many schools.
2014
2015
2016
240,000 PRIMARY PLACES
The National Audit office has announced that 240,000 additional
primary school places are required by 2014/15, this puts even greater
pressure on schools to maximise the space they have available.
By taking coat and bag storage out of cloakrooms and locating it along
corridors you can free up much needed space which can be used for either
additional classrooms or even break out teaching spaces.
GOOD DESIGN
A recent study by architects Nightingale Associates and Salford University has shown that
classroom design can improve a pupil’s academic progress by as much as 25% over the
course of a year. The study highlighted that flexible storage and use of colour are key
factors.
With more classes and break out groups working in school halls, communal areas and even large
corridors, carrying colour and organised storage through the entire school environment has never
been more important. Lockers not only provide clutter free streamlined storage they also help to
create colourful and engaging learning environments.
CLUTTER FREE ENVIRONMENT
The belief that clutter stifles our creativity and ability to learn is a long established one, but
researchers at Princeton University Neuroscience Institute have now found a scientific link.
In their study published in The Journal of Neuroscience in January 2011 they put forward
their neurological evidence that physical clutter negatively affects your ability to focus and
process information.
The benefits of an organised, clutter free, colourful and engaging learning environment are
without question but this should not be solely confined to classrooms. Students, and especially those
of primary school age, are learning and absorbing information every waking second meaning that
communal areas are equally as important as classrooms.
Storage may only be seen as a small piece of the jigsaw but the difference between the white noise
of coat peg storage and a row of colourful clutter free lockers can be substantial.
In a recent poll carried out by Link 51
73% of parents with children at primary
school said they would prefer the school
to use lockers instead of coat pegs.
Interestingly the remaining 27% said they
had chosen pegs as they felt their
children would be unable to manage
keys and locks.
Despite the name our lockers don’t have to be
locked, many of the schools we have worked
with have chosen to simply use a standard
lock without a padlock so the door is only held
closed, not locked.
73
%
73% of parents
polled would prefer
lockers to coat pegs.
CHILDREN LOVE LOCKERS
With every school we have worked with over the past 40 years we
have always heard how much children love “their” lockers.
Children feel extremely proud when such a dramatic change for
the better happens in their school; we have always heard from
students that they love the colour and the fact that they have
their very own locker compartment.
“They look very attractive and brightly coloured. The children
enjoy using them and classrooms are much tidier.”
Mr Williams, Headteacher, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
SAVE TIME
“The children absolutely love them”
Lockers dramatically reduce the levels of lost property and trip hazards.
Joanne Jones, School Business Manager, Moorfield Primary School
Many of the schools we have worked with have reported drastic reduction in the number of health
and safety issues since lockers were introduced. This takes the pressure off staff and frees up time
for other tasks. In addition parents are much happier as they no longer need to replace lost items of
uniform on such a regular basis.
“The children have been very enthusiastic with their lockers.
We haven’t had to number them, as each child has instantly
taken ownership of his or her locker and loves using them.
A great result all round.”
David How, Headmaster, Beaver Road Primary School
www.link51.com/lockers
SchoollockersUK
SchoolLockersUK
The Benefits
PARENTS OPINION
HOW WE HELPED......
BEAVER ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL
Beaver Road Primary School is a thriving multicultural school responsible for 700 children,
ranging in age from 3 to 11 years old.
Space at Beaver Road is at a premium, and every room in their 1930s building has been utilised for
either teaching or administration purposes. Cloakrooms, once considered a necessity, have been
converted into teaching rooms to cope with the increasing numbers of children at the school.
The downside of losing this facility has meant that children's belongings - coats, hats, scarfs and bags are placed on pegs in the school corridors.
At the schools fire inspection in October 2012, the inspecting fire officer was concerned that the
children’s belongings in the corridors were creating obstructions and posing a trip hazard if the building
had to be evacuated quickly. Immediate remedial action was required.
“We used to have bottleneck situations when the children were trying to get to
their lockers at the same time, now the flow is a lot easier, which makes it a lot
safer if we ever have to evacuate quickly. It’s also a much neater environment.”
Joanne Jones, Business Manager at Moorfield Primary School
MOORFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL
A total of 480 Half-height two door and Three-quarter height three door steel lockers were installed
across the various corridors, running alongside the teaching rooms. With each child over 4 years old
allocated a locker for his/her belongings, the aim was to free corridors of clutter, thereby fully meeting
the requirements of the fire inspection report.
Having been unable to secure funding for the lockers from the Local Authority (Manchester City Council),
the headteacher took advantage of the Link 51 Locker Solutions leasing leasing option and secured a
3-year leasing agreement which allowed the school to carry out the transformation straight away.
Moorfield Primary School is a 271-pupil school in Newport, Shropshire which had a variety of
coat pegs and “rickety, old” lockers, which School Business Manager Joanne Jones said were
“in dire need of replacement”.
Another problem with using coat pegs and old lockers in the school’s central covered courtyard was that
the area often became congested as pupils struggled to gain access to their belongings at the same
time. If bags or coats were on the floor, it also caused tripping hazards.
Link 51 Locker solutions offered Moorfield Primary School the ideal solution to its storage facility
problems, tailoring the design to enable the lockers to fit perfectly into the spaces available outside each
of the junior school classrooms.
The clever design has led to less congestion and crowding and it also means that the corridors are now
free of clutter.
A total of 183 lockers, a mix of half, three-quarter and full height lockers, were installed to provide
appropriate access to different age groups within the school.
The covered central area, where the old lockers were accommodated, has now been transformed into a
garden space.
“Link 51 Locker Solutions were thoroughly professional from start to
finish and we had all lockers installed with minimal disruption to our
daily routine. We are delighted with the end result, which has been a
sound investment to minimise a key health and safety concern.”
David How, Headmaster at Beaver Road Primary School
The Solution
STAMFORD PARK JUNIOR SCHOOL
A common issue with the use of coat pegs in primary schools is that coats and bags can clutter up
the floor causing tripping hazards and lost property issues. As storage areas are normally
positioned along designated escape routes, the use of coat pegs can also cause problems in
emergency situations. Increasingly this is being picked up by Fire Officers during routine fire
safety inspections.
Cathryn Downing, Headteacher at Stamford Park Junior School, in Altrincham, Greater Manchester,
recognised these issues and opted to install 279 multi-colour lockers in red, blue and yellow. The lockers
are located in 4 cloakroom areas off the main corridors.
“The lockers have been a real hit with the pupils and staff. The result has
been dramatic, with no trip hazards from coats and bags on the floor and
there has already been a reduction in lost property. I shall certainly mention
what a difference it has made to our school, when I attend meetings with
other Heads.”
Cathryn Downing, Headteacher at Stamford Park Junior School
SERVICES
With over 40 years’ experience working with the education sector to design, manufacture and install
tailored storage solutions you can be confident that Link 51 Locker Solutions can transform your school
whilst saving you time, resource and space.
Our comprehensive service includes:
l Free no obligation site visit and space planning service
l Free no obligation design service
l Local account manager who is a locker expert and able to advise you on the ideal solution for
your school
l Dedicated lockers team based in our Telford office, this includes designers, sales agents and
customer services
l UK manufacture to BS4680 standard. We also hold ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001
accreditations
l Installation by one of our teams of experienced locker installers
www.link51.com/lockers
SchoollockersUK
SchoolLockersUK
WE CAN ALSO HELP YOU WITH....
LOCKER LEASING
Lockers are more cost effective than you may think, however if your capital budget is squeezed this
year but you would still like to transform your school why not take advantage of our locker leasing
package. Working with one of the UK’s most well-known and trusted leasing providers you can be
confident that leasing your lockers is safe and allows you to utilise your revenue budget.
Leasing is not the same as a finance contract which have caused issues for schools in the past. Leasing is a safe
and often sensible way to make changes to your school, spreading the cost over time. Leasing agreements are
permitted by both councils and the Department for Education and in fact you may already be leasing ICT
equipment.
In addition to leasing your lockers and utilising your revenue budget you may also wish to explore the idea of
introducing a nominal locker fee in the form of a parental payment programme which can either simply cover
the cost of the lockers or create a revenue stream for the school. Given the level of frustration amongst
parents when it comes to issues of lost property you may be surprised how many would be willing to pay
£5-£10 per year for their child’s locker.
Laptop Storage
and Charging
Seating and Benching
Stationary and Janitorial
Cupboards
Hazardous Substance
Storage Cupboards
Office Shelving
Library Shelving
Whether you choose to purchase straight away or opt for locker leasing you can be confident you are dealing
with the UK’s leading locker manufacturer with over 40 years’ experience working with the education sector.
BIOCOTE® PROTECTION
All of our steel lockers come with a BioCote anti-microbial powder coating as standard. BioCote is the only
silver ion based technology of its kind proven in peer tests to reduce the levels of harmful bacteria on contact
surfaces by 99.9%.
FREE NO-OBLIGATION SITE SURVEY AND QUOTE SERVICE
To find out more about how lockers could benefit your school call 08000
733 300 or visit www.link51.com/lockers
You can also join in the pegs v lockers debate on Twitter – SchoolLockersUK #PegsvLockers or find us on Facebook/SchoollockersUK.
Link 51 Lockers
Link House, Halesfield 6, Telford TF7 4LN
08000 733 300
01952 684312
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.link51.com/lockers
Tel:
Fax: