Outdoor canopy solutions for schools will transform your school so much that they will repay your investment tenfold.
If you are wondering how can canopies benefit your school, you’re in the right place to find the answers. We’ve taken a look through at all of the ways schools are using outdoor canopy solutions and what problems they solve so that we can bring you this comprehensive list of 13 reasons why schools need a canopy on their premises.
1. Creates Outdoor Learning Opportunities
Outdoor learning increases academic performance. The stimuli, fresh air, risk-taking, and connection with the environment all combine to create a perfect learning environment. And it promotes a healthy lifestyle too! There are too many advantages that arise from learning outdoors for it to be overlooked.
But, without a school canopy, it’s impossible to create consistent opportunities for your students to learn outdoors especially with the challenges that the UK weather brings.
2. Relieves Pressure From Your Existing Dining Hall
If the outdoor learning potential that arises from adding a school canopy wasn’t enough of a reason why canopies will benefit your school, perhaps the additional dining space a canopy will create will inspire you.
You can add a freestanding canopy to create a canteen space separate from your school building. Depending on the design of your school and location of your canteen, you could use a school canopy to extend and improve your canteen, or you can also add a retractable roof or even join up two existing buildings on your school premises.
3. Extends Your Classroom Space
In the same way, you can add additional dining space to your school, you can also extend your classroom space. Perhaps you will add individual classrooms or a covered walkway that sits outside your ground floor classrooms to extend the space.
Tip! A covered walkway outside your ground floor classrooms can double up as protection from the elements during bad weather, for students walking between the classrooms. And can also provide playground shelter or cover for waiting parents.
4. Provides Protection From UV Rays
If schools don’t have enough to consider, they also need to protect their students from harmful UV rays. One way you can do that without having to apply sun protection cream is to add a playground shelter. Most good canopy manufacturers will supply a UV fabric roof option. The ‘tepee style’ roofs are striking and aesthetically pleasing.
You can also add shade sails or parasols over benches to provide more shade. Some polycarbonate roofs can be UV resistant too, but you’ll need to discuss this further with your canopy manufacturer to find out exactly what options are available to you.
5. Enhances The Look Of Your School
Most school canopies have painted stainless steel or aluminium frames, with polycarbonate or fabric roofs. All of which usually come with several colour options.
Aside from the colour choices, the design can also add to the aesthetic of your school. Shade sails, tepee roofs or entrance canopies and walkways are striking to look at and convey a subliminal level of care and attention to detail.
6. Cools Your Classrooms
Permanent canopies, or even retractable canopies, are perfect for cooling classrooms and encouraging your students to concentrate.
Simply add them to the outside of the classrooms to provide the necessary shade in warmer weather. You can also add side infills, to add even more shade and create an enclosed space that can also double up as an extension to your classrooms or some additional storage space.
7. Brings More Opportunity To Enjoy Outdoor Sports
Installing a sports canopy may be a lesser-known outdoor canopy solution perhaps but it’s one that brings a lot of potential to your school.
Sports canopies are advantageous as an open-air canopy providing simple roof cover but adding flexible side infills or retractable roofs takes it to a whole new level. One where you can add light and heating too to create the perfect space for outdoor sports.
8. Enables More Outdoor Play
Ask a child development expert and they’ll tell you how vital outdoor play is for a child’s physical, emotional, social and educational development. And schools play a vital role in this development. But it’s difficult for schools to encourage outdoor play when they have to factor in the weather. School canopies can create opportunities for you to encourage outdoor play and advance the growth of your students in all of the important ways.
9. Creates Designated Walkways
Covered walkways are a fantastic way to direct where your students and staff walk around your school premises. It can keep the children focused on getting to their next class on time and keeps students and staff warm and dry. Covered walkways can be fully or partially enclosed to provide enough cover
10. Provides Comfort To Your Students, Staff And Visitors
Adding covered walkways, entrance canopies, and playground shelters provides comfort and protection from the elements to all of your students, staff and visitors. Furthermore, they give you opportunities to maintain and adapt to social distancing guidelines in ways where your school benefits when things return to normal.
11. Reduces Footfall In Crowded Areas
When you add dedicated walkways, you can reduce the footfall in congested areas around your school. And canopies are perfect for creating designated walkways.
For example, if you have a large entrance area that leads to multiple locations within your school, or a busy corridor you can add external walkways to divert some of the footfall. This outdoor canopy solution can also transform the way you use your school’s communal areas.
12. Increases Recreation Space
Adding dedicated walkways to redirect footfall and enhance your school’s communal spaces is one way to make the most out of outdoor canopies but that’s not all. You can add canopies to your school to extend your recreation space and make the most of it in all weathers.
13. Keeps Your School Cleaner
If you install covered walkways, additional canteens, or additional recreation space, you keep your school cleaner during the day. Especially if it’s raining – there will be far less mud around the school.
Whether it’s because your students are participating in outdoor sports under the cover of a sports canopy, or if they’re walking under the shelter of a covered walkway one thing’s for sure, they’re not treading water, and mud through your hallways.
Additionally, if you’re redirecting footfall away from your recreation areas or busy parts of your school, you’ll protect those areas from wear and tear enhancing the look and upkeep of your school.