It takes real vision to look at an old gym building and see its potential as a vibrant centre for forward-thinking academic excellence.

The gym was subdivided into ten classrooms, retaining the maple floors (complete with court markings) and the 4.5 m ceiling height, which means these learning spaces are both well-lit and well-ventilated, creating an ideal learning environment which helps learners concentrate. Excess CO2 and insufficient light levels are common in classrooms and they can negatively affect pupils’ ability to stay alert and receptive. Each of the new classrooms has Learniture’s Acclivity chairs and agile Smile tables with LearningSurface® writable surfaces. The furniture can easily be reconfigured to suit the lesson. For example when practising speaking skills in MFL, students can quickly put tables in pairs so they can face each other comfortably. Equally, if teachers want their students in rows, they can do that too. The agility of the furniture means it does not dictate how each space should be used. The potential is there to experiment with new ways of doing things, but each individual teacher and class can take it at their own pace.