Park View School in Birmingham’s Alum Rock, an area associated with high social disadvantage and gang problems, has had an uphill struggle to provide excellence for its students. In the late 1990s, only 4% of students were awarded five or more A-C grades at GCSE.
Park View School clampdown on bullying and a ‘no student left behind’ agenda, the school has almost three-quarters of its students achieving at this high level.
A number of new initiatives were undertaken by the school during the refurbishment process, including redevelopment of the ablution facilities – an area used by Muslim students before prayer.
Another initiative was introduction of open-plan toilet areas in an attempt to combat bullying. Although early days, it would appear that both these initiatives have been resounding successes. For the ablution areas, project managers, Lend Lease, suggested installation of the WuduMate, a suite of washing appliances specifically designed for wudu.
Several models were considered by the school with detailed advice provided by the manufacturer.
Eventually, the WuduMate Commercial was chosen, a model already successfully implemented in hundreds of similar environments. Eight units were installed in the male ablution area and four in
the female facility.
“We were keen to adopt a long lasting solution using latest generation materials to facilitate cleaning and reduce maintenance,” says Julian Floyd of Lend Lease. “The WuduMate has proved to be far easier to implement than the construction of a traditional tile and cement trough, and is being well
received by those using it."
Hardeep Saini, Park View’s deputy headteacher, was instrumental in the decision making processes for both the WuduMate and open plan toilet areas.
“We recognised that our existing ablution facilities were inadequate; the new ablution facilities needed to match the other areas of excellence we were aiming for. When Lend Lease suggested we consider the WuduMate, we immediately saw this could match our aspirations to set a standard for others to follow. We are delighted with our decision.”
Hardeep is also excited about the benefits of the open plan toilet area, adding,
“The introduction of open plan toilet areas has also achieved its intended result – reducing the incidence of bullying and proving an excellent template for others schools to follow. “Staff and students alike are showing pride in these new facilities; Park View School now has an ablution
Hardeep Saini, Deputy Headteacher, Park View School
facility which stands up as a fantastic exemplar for all schools to follow.”
Download PDF: Park View School Refurbishment, Birmingham
Visit website: www.parkview.bham.sch.uk/
The WuduMate Commercial was one of our original WuduMate footbaths, designed by our founder Nigel Bromilow.
We no longer sell this model - it has been superseded by the WuduMate Classic, an improved footbath design, updated after feedback from our users.
