Do not disturb – children and bats at work

Every headteacher who plans building work at their school is aware of the disruption it can cause. At Oak Trees School in Maidstone, Headteacher Jane Curtis had to contend not only with disturbance of the children and teachers, but also with the resident bat in the roof, as bats are a protected species.

However, architects Tuke Manton were able to manage the design to create so little disturbance to the roof (and the bat) that a formal DEFRA licence was not needed. Partner Roger Crundwell said “we designed the whole scheme so that the school could carry on functioning, with minimum noise and dust from the building work, and specifically designed the roof so that the bat wasn’t disturbed.”

Headteacher Jane Curtis commented “moving four classes into temporary accommodation, and using one classroom as a buffer zone, worked very well. We could then move the classes into the new accommodation and complete the second part of the project.”

Safety for children and parents was also improved by developing the temporary access created during the works as the main entrance. This avoided the old route along a narrow road without a path.

Now there’s safe access and plenty of room for the pupils and teachers – and for the bat.

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