School overcrowding is a growing problem. The average secondary school class size increased in 2020 for the 5th year running to 22 pupils. There are now nearly 1 million school children in classes of 31 to 35 pupils.

Help schools extend to accommodate growing numbers

Outdoor canopies are the fast and affordable way for schools to extend. Canopies UK make the process easy by carrying out site surveys (virtually, if needed) and providing detailed plans.

Canopies are maintenance-free and they use site-specific calculations to test the canopies’ safety against wind and snow loads.

Make budgets go further with outdoor canopies

Canopies help schools get considerably more for their budgets. A Cantabria canopy is less than half the cost of a building extension of the same size. Unlike extensions, outdoor canopies don’t take months to build and most don’t require planning applications.

Help ease pressure with outdoor dining canopies

Schools can ease overcrowding during break times by creating additional areas for eating and socialising. Outdoor dining canopies are useful to schools throughout the day for lessons and events. Schools get multipurpose space for learning and break times.

Create space like Winstanley College in Wigan has done

Winstanley College were crying out for extra dining and study space, so they installed one of Canopies UK’s freestanding Cantabria dining canopies. They have named it ‘the garden room’ and use it all-year-round for dining, studying, and events such as parents’ evenings.

Make room like St Michael’s High School in Chorley

St Michael’s were desperate for additional dining space as they’d outgrown their dining hall. They considered building an extension but decided to install one of our Cantabria canopies instead. It ticked all their boxes and met their budget plus; it only took Canopies UK a week to install.

Provide playground shelter like Wellington School in Manchester

Wellington School in Timperley, Manchester, has over 1,300 pupils and 80 teaching staff. They wanted shelter large enough to take the strain away from the busy canteen hall. Canopies UK installed two Connekt umbrella canopies, colour-matched to the school’s branding to create the much-needed additional space for break times.

Susan Byiers, the School Business Manager, said: ‘We are so happy with how the canopies look. When I first came back to school after the installation and saw them in place, I was blown away. They are brilliant.’

Canopies UK have been designing, manufacturing, and installing canopies for over 30 years. Get the highest quality materials and comply with British Standard BS399-3 and European Standard EN1991-1-3:2003.

Do you work with schools or colleges? Canopies UK can help. Book one of their free site surveys and they can show you how you can get more use from their existing space.