As the Summer half term looms on the horizon, this is the point when many schools should start thinking about September…
Surprised? Perhaps, but the maintenance and refurbishment work that can take place over the Summer holidays in order to make a fresh start come September should be considered now. By keeping ahead of the game you will be able to save both time and cost in a decorative schedule and budget.
Why Summer?
The Summer break is a great time to undertake maintenance in a school, whether decorative or structural. The daily traffic of lessons is absent and the space has been cleared of the year’s worth of learning. Indeed when the walls are cleared it very quickly becomes apparent that a freshening up is imperative! The reason that it’s important to be thinking of your redecoration now is not just so that you can get a good school decorator booked. It is so that you can be more accurate in your requirements.
Getting Started
It’s all in the planning. Formulating your decorative plan while the building is still in a working state means that you are very aware of any practical challenges that need to be overcome. It is easy to let these things slip when you consider a room of learning in its empty state. So make an inventory of areas that require attention, listen to teacher feedback and take time to look at how the children interact with the space.
Decorative Knowledge
If it all seems like a herculean task, bring in your decorator at this stage. We don’t just undertake maintenance and painting, we use our years of experience to offer advice too. It’s helpful for us to see the space in its working state. From this, we are able to understand how that space is practically used day to day. We can then make recommendations for your plan and schedule.
Summer Challenges
Of course, the six week Summer holiday is no longer the plain of absence that it once was. Schools have evolved to be extremely clever and commercial in their use of the space. Well done administrators! In this way, a school building is often hired out during traditional ‘down’ periods to conferences, daycare schemes, meetings and events. This schedule can become hectic and make decoration seem even more impossible out of term than in term.
Getting Around It
For experienced decorators, this presents little challenge. External events do not often use the whole building space, so with clever scheduling and discrete working, a full decorative refresh can take place without compromising the building’s commercial appeal. In this way, our work will dovetail with other activity that you may have taking place in the building. Our conscientious, out of hours schedules can even allow you to begin the activity before the end of the term.
Cyclical Demands
Of course, it’s not all about simply freshening up the classroom ready for the eager faces of next academic year. School buildings age and take incredible strain. So there are areas that will require more substantial maintenance. Don’t try to do this all at once. This kind of maintenance is more susceptible to encountering unforeseen challenges, so should be staggered. When we are invited into a space we will be able to identify areas that will need attention in one or even two years’ time and plan accordingly.
When Is It Too Late?
This is the good bit – it’s never too late! Yes, the process will likely be smoother and quicker if you think about your decoration and maintenance now. But it’s not the end of the world if you just can’t manage it. As we plan our work to take place out of hours, we can undertake work in term time too when you need it.
The best bit about getting all this planned before the Summer break though? You get to stop thinking about it and enjoy a well-earned glass of cold stuff!
We are commercial painting and decorating contractors, serving London, Essex, Cambridge and the Home Counties.
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