>=== Quiet-List message from David Staudacher >[Ref: The London Telegraph, 23-May-1999]
>CARPETS TO HELP PUPILS TREAD SOFTLY >A local authority is hoping to raise educational standards by
laying >Barking and Dagenham council in Essex also wants to invest in >[...]
>Roger Luxton, principal school inspector for Barking and Dagenham,
insisted >The idea, which will be applied in nursery and reception classes,
has been >"If children are sitting on a chair on a wooden floor you automatically
get
Substituting air pollution for noise pollution is not much of
a solution. For the first couple of years carpets outgas toxins
that will adversely affect the respiratory, neurological, and
immune systems of the school population. After a short time, especially
in a school environment, the carpets will be packed with impossible
to clean soil and other allergens that will generate a nonstop
attack on the immune systems of the school population. The combination
of putting heavy tough fabric sliders on the feet of any furniture
that slides on wood or other hard surfaces, putting sound absorbing
tiles on the walls and ceiling, using incandescent rather than
fluorescent lights, and demanding quiet from the students is a
far superior approach to poisoning the air they breathe or drugging
them into quiescence (the Ritalin solution to hyperactive students).
What a stunning insight -"improving classroom conditions could
have a significant impact on children´s performance." Yes, give
students good comfortable furniture. Also give them good light
and good air. Design their day so they have some regular blowoff
time. And try teaching them a bit of discipline too so they´re
not shouting, banging desks, and clumping shoes in class.
Ron Pellegrino
A post with some corroborating input from another quiet-list subscriber:
To: quiet-list@igc.org Hello All, [Note from list admin: see http://www.quiet.org/ideas_idx.htm for pictures of tennis balls cut and fitted over the ends of
chair legs to reduce noise in a school classroom.]
Booking information and comments. ©1996-2004 Ron Pellegrino and Electronic Arts Productions. All
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>By Martin Bentham, Education Correspondent
>carpets in its classrooms to absorb the shouts of pupils, banging
desks and
>clumping shoes and create a more peaceful atmosphere.
>"high-quality" chairs and benches to improve the classroom environment.
>that improving classroom conditions could have a significant
impact on
>children´s performance.
>prompted by a visit to schools in Zurich. According to Mr Luxton,
Swiss
>minimise noise and increase pupils´ focus on their work.
>noise. Carpets eliminate that and help to get the concentrating,
listening
>environment that you need to teach children more effectively."
From: Maxine Carpenter
Subject: Re: Carpets for Classrooms in UK
Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 08:23:43 -0700
As a school board trustee who serves on the new school design
team, I have a bit of further info. relative to carpets in classrooms
- they are not advisable. We have found them impossible to keep
clean and healthful, so we've had to find other means to cut noise
from bare floors. One way is the use of area rugs, which can be
cleaned and/or replaced. One hint that sounds foolish, but really
helps, is to cut tennis balls to fit over the ends of chair legs
to muffle the sound of chairs on floors. Cheap, easy.
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