FREEMANTLES School has taken delivery of six brightly coloured prefabricated Education Pods at its site in Mayford Green.
The EdPods were delivered by the manufacturer, Armadilla, in a three-lorry convoy from its base, 400 miles away in Bonnyrigg on the outskirts of Edinburgh. It was the company’s biggest order from a school.
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Justin Price, the headteacher, said: “We’ll initially be using them as a temporary measure to support us in accommodating an extra class ahead of a new building being constructed.
“For this period, we’ll be losing our sensory circuit space for a classroom. We can use the pods to replicate the sensory experiences that we offer.
“In the longer term, we’re considering the pods for a range of options, including library, music space and one has been earmarked as an office for the executive headteacher.”
The EdPods have natural timber cladding and are designed to be environmentally friendly, with energy consumption reduced by insulation and smart technology controlling temperature and humidity.
Armadilla, which was founded in 2010 by Archie Hunter, has supplied EdPods to more than 30,000 schools in the UK.
Mr Hunter said: “It has been great to be able to supply our largest order so far from the education sector to Freemantles School, which looks after the needs of a lot of young, neuro-diverse people.
“The school was particularly attracted to the flexibility of our pods. They were designed to meet their specific requirements, including the request to have them painted in a range of rainbow colours.”
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Mr Hunter said the EdPod has been designed specifically to assist schools that have children with special educational needs.
“We receive great feedback from schools. It’s remarkable how useful they find our EdPods, for example as chill down rooms for children on the Autism spectrum, as a sensory space, as a structured play area, or as a reading room.”
Armadilla also supplies pods to the hospitality industry for glamping, including resorts in the Scottish Highlands, the Algarve and Germany.