Child-friendly environments in vertical schools: A qualitative study from the child's perspective

Abstract

Vertical schools are becoming more common in Australia and around the world. However, we have a limited understanding of this school typology and how it operates, particularly from children's perspective. Vertical schools often manage to support formal games in their gyms or run educational tours in their neighbourhood, but this is a limited perspective on environmental provision for child-friendly schools. This research aimed to explore children's perspectives on the nature of spaces they preferred in these schools, and the problems they faced in this school typology that could be regulated by physical environment design. Using a socio-ecological framework, this participatory qualitative study completed 24 walking tours with 8–13-year-old children across three Australian vertical schools to identify multiple characteristics of child-friendly environments in this school type. The findings indicated children's preference for terraces to access the outdoors, and hubs to foster their connection to the school community. The major problems they faced included vertical movement, noise pollution, and overcrowding of corridors and staircases. Considering the limited footprint, children appreciated the availability of varied space types in this school typology, although their access was strictly programmed and supervised. The findings inform school design and school policy of the nature of child-friendly environments that should be valued in vertical schools.