I Love My School

Project Objective

The objective of the project ‘I Love My School’ is to support education, improve and provide a comfortable and relaxing learning environment in schools, increase the creative potential and awareness of children under the age of 18 through school decoration.

Reason for choosing our objective

A number of studies show that harmonious combinations of colours and shapes in schools have a positive psychological and physical effect on children and teachers.

School buildings often lack the freshness of colours that are common in Nature. 

Sometimes there is no motivating atmosphere to inspire children to study with love and desire. Students lose the natural emotional connection with beauty in life and the sense of aesthetics.

We want to bring the fresh colours of Nature into the school environment so children can feel calm and comfortable at school. We want to create a learning environment that is close to their inner world by means of beautiful and inspirational photo wallpapers.

We want to inspire children to seek new knowledge by supporting them to believe in their dreams and make them come true. We want every child to say ‘I love my school!’. The objective of this project is to educate students about aesthetic attitude and desire to help one another and to be responsible towards the surrounding environment.

Voluntary work in groups gives children the opportunity to learn how to work in a team with teachers and parents, in order to achieve a common goal. We develop their creative potential through organising artistic workshops for school decoration. 

How we achieve our objective

  • We create an individual school interior design project, including all classrooms, corridors and foyers
  • Each room has a different colour and an unique photo wallpaper that creates a feeling of cosiness and beauty
  • The subject-based classrooms have images with various messages and learning information
  • We use pastel colours on the walls
  • If a classroom has a painted wall border, the latter is removed or painted in the same colour as the walls
  • Teamwork – students, teachers and parents participate voluntarily in the projects 
  • We create an environmentally friendly learning environment through the Children and Flowers Subproject
  • We plant herbs and indoor plants for removing the toxins in the classrooms
  • School foyers become a place of relaxation through the Art Foyer Subproject  
  • We design a space with comfortable furniture, book shelves and beautiful images on the walls
  • We incorporate teachers’ and students’ ideas into the new design of the schooling environment
  • Teachers give us inspirational ideas and thoughts, positive words, and part of the curriculum material that we use to design their chosen classroom photo wallpaper
  • A feeling that school becomes a second home is achieved due to the year-round work of all teachers, students and parents

Themed photo wallpaper

  • Images of fairy-tale characters for young pupils
  • Images for various subjects – Chemistry, History, Geography, etc.

For the wallpaper we use

  • Inspirational thoughts
  • Positive words and affirmations
  • Information from the curriculum material

Photo wallpaper parametres

  • HP copier paper
  • Paper weight 175 g/m2
  • Self-adhesive wallpaper
  • Water-based, environmentally friendly and safe inks are used for the print 

Note: For more information, please see Certificate.

Results

  • Improved the visual learning environment
  • Tranquility and comfort in classrooms
  • Motivation and satisfaction of students
  • Creating moral values ​​for children through positive affirmations and words
  • Responsibility and respect for nature and the surrounding environment
  • Aesthetic attitude towards the world
  • Teamwork and partnership between students, teachers and parents

Benefits for

  • Students – children learn in a relaxed and aesthetic environment, educating themselves about moral values
  • School – improved academic reputation; increased number of students each year
  • Teachers – satisfaction with the motivation of children and work in a cosy and harmonious learning environment
  • Parents – satisfaction with their children’s motivation and the beautiful school environment 
  • The public – improved school reputation in the city and strengthened municipality reputation

Visual environment

School visual environment often feels like an aesthetic and psychological burden for students and teachers because it is simply very dull and boring.

We all know that the environment we live in determines our behaviour.

Its positive change

  • Improves students’ and teachers’ state of mind
  • Increases satisfaction and motivation for learning
  • Reduces stress and fatigue
  • Improves children’s success
  • Changes students’ and teachers’ emotions and attitude

Effect of colours

The effect of colours, on both mental and physical health, has been the subject of numerous studies. Colours affect us on a subconscious level, changing perception and environment atmosphere as a result of which people react in different ways. 

It is proven that warm and bright colours stimulate our mind and body, and improve our physical health. Light and cool colour tones soothe the mind, balance and relax. Dark and grey colours evoke negative emotions and feelings.

Therefore, our goal is to improve the environment, feelings, emotions and mood by using suitable colour combinations in the school environment.

Influence of shapes

The shapes we use in our project support the effect of other elements in classrooms, corridors and foyers – they create softness and tranquility. Shapes and textures can bring dynamics or statics to the environment, as well as peace or tension. Stress is all around us. It is better for children to spend most of their time in a beautiful and aesthetic environment that harmonises them. That is why we try to remove any excess furniture that is not used or can be re-painted in soft colour tones.

We clear the rear wall of the classroom of all display items and create space and depth. We use the same colour range for walls and painted wall borders. By using oval shapes on the photo wallpaper, children experience a feeling of softness and relaxation. The three-dimensional photo wallpaper increases visual space in classrooms. The walls in the classroom are painted in one colour thus creating softness and tranquility for the children’s mind. The only focal point in the classroom is the inspiring photo wallpaper on the rear wall.

Role of interior design in education

School is a place where children spend most of their time. The objective of the project ‘I love my school’ is to make this place more welcoming, more relaxing, more stimulating and healthier. The environment determines the consciousness and the patterns of children’s behavior. It can motivate and inspire them, or demotivate and disengage them. We design an eco-friendly school environment by creating colourful flower and herb displays under the Project ‘Children and Flowers’.

The LightSource Charity inspires children to believe in themselves and achieve their dreams easily by making a positive change to the overall vision of the educational establishment. Children are encouraged to seek strength and wisdom, live truly and worthily and live a life with a purpose. They are inspired to love and forgive, seek and find, believe and be excited, dream and create, and see the world … through their own hearts!

Influence of positive affirmations on children’s education

  • Create virtues in children
  • Create moral and ethical values
  • Stimulate children to believe in themselves and in their dreams
  • Create brave citizens of the world
  • You can find positive affirmations and words here

We donate

  • The visual interior design of the whole school
  • Small furniture/shelving 
  • Customised wallpaper design for each classroom, corridors and foyers
  • Wallpaper printing
  • Wallpaper installation
  • Trainings

Obligations of schools we donate our projects to

  • Cover the expenses for painting the building in the colours we set in our interior design project
  • Create subject-based classrooms so that each one of them can have its own atmosphere and purpose. We create wallpaper with information about the subject, e.g. History, Chemistry, Biology, Languages, Art, etc.

Note: These requirements do not apply to classrooms for students year 1 to 4

  • Remove any excess old furniture, objects, and notice boards from the walls as they seem to burden the mind
  • Organise one or two notice boards where teachers can place important information
  • Remove all items from rear walls so photo wallpaper can be installed 

(Wardrobe cabinets and cupboards will need to be moved to a different part of the classroom)

  • Rear walls need to be sanded and primed to create smooth surface for best wall covering
  • Upload our project to the school website
  • Complete a survey before and after completing the project in order to announce the results we have achieved
  • Organise volunteer groups of teachers, parents and students work with us and to help create the new school interior design

Project time frame

  • One to three years

Project validity period

  • The school must not change the school interior we have created for 5 years after project completion.

How we work

  • Once the Head Teacher of the School accepts our requirements and vision for the school environment, they submit a donation application form that can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
  • We sign a contract specifying the above rights and obligations of both parties.

Work on the project runs online through

  • emails
  • internet conference meetings – Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Go to meeting
  • tables – Google Docs
  • photo folders – Google Photos 

Each school has a Project Team

  • Project coordinator – coordinates the whole process by involving and inspiring teachers, students and parents. Professional use of Google documents, Google photos, Skype, Viber and WhatsApp.
  • Photographer – responsible for taking pictures and video clips during the entire process of the project ‘I love my school’.
  • Writer – a literature teacher who writes about the project.
  • Decorator – responsible for decorating the foyers and other designated areas in the school
  • PR – works with the community and the media and is responsible for posts on Facebook, YouTube and the School website. 

Wallpapers are installed after

  • signing the contract
  • the Head Teacher’s approval of the interior design, wallpapers and wallpaper texts
  • the walls where wallpapers will be mounted are sanded and primed
  • the colours chosen in the interior design for the classrooms, corridors and foyers have been adhered to
  • the deadline for the wallpaper installation has been met

We install wallpaper

  • the Summer break
  • the Spring mid-term
  • Weekends (during the School year)

We visit schools

  • the school has submitted a completed application form and pictures
  • we have approved the school for our project donation
  • in Spring and Autumn

Deadlines

Volunteers and teamwork

Through the “I love my school” project we involve the pupils/students in voluntary work which aims to teach and nourish shared values, responsibilities and care for the environment and each other. For various reasons, voluntary work in our society is not very popular, one of the reasons being the lack of engagement on school life.

The absence of voluntary work deprives our children from the possibility to accept small tasks which will create the sense of responsibility in the long term and the ability to work in a team environment. It is important to volunteers to be proud of and to care and be responsible for their school, as they spend a significant part of their life there. School atmosphere has a strong influence on their health and temperament and motivation.

Teaching children values like willingness to protect and preserve common property, nature and the environment is a quality which plays a crucial role in building their integrity, responsibility and teamwork. These qualities will have a future beneficial effect on them and on society.

If you like to apply to participate in I Love My School project   Download the Application form here.

Please make sure that the word document forms are filled in electronically.

Please take photos from the classrooms, corridors, halls, foyer.

Press here to see an  example of photos which we need.