Primary School. Teachers- would your Ideal staff room look like?

[ButteredRadishes]

A few parents are looking to refurbish a staff room for some primary school teachers. As it's a bit tatty feels a bit unloved. Obviously the school don't have money for this and perhaps shouldn't spend money on this. But some parents are willing to give time, money and items.

Naturally we will consult the school and the head teacher. However, in anticipation, what do you think staff would like?

Currently they have mismatched desks clearly leftovers from classrooms. A few scrappy chairs at these desks. No other work surface or sitting area.
They do have a nice well-appointed kitchen though.
There's no artwork on the walls or anything, but they do have a notice board which seems to be used for weekly notices.

What are your thoughts and suggestions?

Could you raise money for regular donations of tea, coffee etc? If education is anything like the NHS we have to buy our own tea bags & coffee

So grateful for you thinking about staff in this way. I know teachers are pushed for time and the 'to do' is never ending, but I don't know how so many teachers seem to cope without breaks or having lunches on the go.
Our staffroom is lovely and is used every break time by all the staff. It is a welcoming place to chill, socialise, and escape from the children !
We have chairs around a coffee table, gentle lighting, treats (brought in by staff for when we know it might be 'One of those days'. )
We always meet at break time to chat.
It's a lovely welcoming place to be and great for moral. We have just got 'quick boil' kettles and a coffee machine to make the days a little more cheerful. We also have a dishwasher, fridge and microwave.

get kids and parents to write thank you messages and display these nicely on the wall

Ours still gets used a lot. We have whole staff briefings in there before and after school, lots of TA's and admin staff and quite a few Teachers do eat lunch in there, some eat breakfast in there too, some staff who don't like working at home use it for PPA. If anyone is overwhelmed or upset (following a behaviour or safeguarding incident for example) someone will always cover for them so they can sit in the staff room for a few minutes and have a breather. If it's someone's birthday we all gather in there for cake and to give them their present. It's a shame they're not used in other schools as it does help create a nice atmosphere and a sense of community.
But I still don't care about wall art, flowers or anything like that, it just needs to be practical and reasonably comfortable.

No it's fine, but they have a functional kitchen, good size, 3 toasters, microwave, big fridge, huge freezer, cutlery, dishwasher etc.

We just thought about making the work / seating area a bit nicer.

I'm a school governor and look after 2 schools ours are pretty plain, whiteboard and a notice board, kitchen and a dining table and chairs and 2 sofas gifted from a local sofa store

I’d ask a few teachers what it is actually used for. If it’s a workspace, then yes, sensible height desks and adjustable office chairs would be good, but if staff have somewhere else to do their marking and planning, then just somewhere to make a decent coffee and somewhere comfy to sit. I’ve never been in a staff room where things match, so that wouldn’t bother me much, but clear of clutter and comfy would be ideal.

As an alternative idea, most schools no longer provide staff with free tea and coffee, so instead of paying for a refurb, funding drinks and biscuits for a month/year could be much appreciated!

Although you are doing a nice thing and asking here for suggestions, you would be better asking staff for suggestions. They will be the clients for your staff room. Or do you want it to be a surprise?
Tables which can easily join together to be for dining or split apart for individual working. Three or four low chairs and a coffee table. A bookcase for staff educational reading. Storage for staff lunches etc. It depends on the size of the staff

Lots of table space/coffee tables, do you don't have to balance everything. Comfy chairs, a heater for when it's too cold, a fan for when it's too hot (Schools are either too hot or cold, never in between!). An instant hot water machine or 2 kettles, 2 microwaves, 2 toasters.

We have photos of all the staff with their families in our staff room and staff shout outs to boost moral.

Staff won't be in there for longer than 20min a day. So convenience and speed are top priorities.

We also have sanitary products and body spray in the toilets. Which is handy when you're rushing about.

I disagree with having a dishwasher. We used to have one in our old staff room but got rid when it was moved. Reason was that no one would take responsibility for emptying it. So someone would come along and shove something dirty in and if it was say a soup bowl then everything else had to be washed again.

I agree with other saying a regular delivery of tea bags, coffee and biscuits.

Some good ideas here, but I’ll add:
free coffee and tea (and biscuits if funds will run to it) - it really makes a difference as staff will drop in to get a drink and maybe have a chat along the way. I worked in a school where the staff didn’t use the staff room until this happened, because there was no incentive (admittedly a bigger school). Once the free drinks were introduced everything changed.

staff rooms are notoriously a bit unloved and can be a dumping ground. So design it to function easily.

Yes!
People needed - PTA to order a skip and help to declutter, get rid of all of the unused files and text books. The National Curriculum documents really are online. 😆

Top items favoured in my staff room are-
Hot water machine,
2 microwaves,
Dishwasher,
decent fridge freezer,
4 slice toaster.

Bonus items-
Lots of cutlery, crockery, glasses, travel mugs etc, washing machine, cupboard with tea, coffee, squash, salt & pepper, biscuit/cake tins, phone

Our staffroom is used for morning briefing twice a week and also for other small meetings- PTA, EP, S&L etc. This means that a whiteboard and staff notice board are essential. We also have a wall that has messages, cards, pictures etc from parents and children

also. If you can get teaspoons that can’t go past the staffroom door, that would be great. Like those trolleys that stop working if you go past a certain point. There’s never enough teaspoons

That would be a marvellous invention for any shared kitchen

You are being obtuse.

Post after post has explained to you that no-one has time to sit in the staffroom, thinking about the ambience.

Seriously, if the PTA spent actual money on some 'nice art for the staffroom wall' I'd be so disappointed. No, I'd be angry in fact . Angry that money was wasted on that when there aren't enough staff, and the staff that are there not only have to provide their own tea / coffee / milk etc (and cover what visitors drink), but that we also continually bring things in from home because there is no money in school for resources.

If you have money to spare to the extent you are looking for things to spend it on, ask the staff what would be useful.

Give me an electronic pencil sharpener over a painting on the staffroom wall any day of the week.

Tying them to a string??
Massive fob like you do at B&Bs
🤣

Ok. The school I work in has outstanding staff facilities. We have a brew room (staff cafe) Instant boiling water :ice cold tap with coffee pod machine and dishwasher and fridges.

then we have staff room. Nice desks with comfy office chairs. Cubbyholes each WITH DOORS so looks tidy. Stand alone drawer unit with all student epi pens and emergency meds (aside from pens students carry on body). No hot desking and it all looks calm and uniform. I love it.

I worked somewhere once where the teaspoon was chained to the urn.

I once bought an entire set of cutlery for the staff room. It had bright red handles. It lasted one term before it went missing.

That's a lovely thing to do.
I think plants (those big tall ones) would be nice, though I suppose they require maintenance. Comfy seating would be amazing if there isn't any already. Don't know if you're allowed to paint the walls? Fresh paint would be nicer than artwork imo. Little coffee tables next to comfy chairs.

Maybe a dartboard if you can get it past health and safety!

What’s your likely budget?

The same. Only they had black handles. I saw them go out of the door and they never came back. I bought myself a camping set of cutlery and kept them in my room after that.
You've a lot of good suggestions for kitchen stuff above.
What appals me is the amount of time staff are expecting to be in the staffroom now. When I retired we had an hour for lunch. There was never enough time to queue to get coffee at breaks, so mugs got back to classrooms, where they bred penicillium cultures. When are people doing extra activities, recorders, drama, games practice, etc.?

The nicest staffroom I have worked in had a good mix of comfy seating in the middle with coffee tables, and then a couple of normal height round tables in the corners- mostly used for people eating lunch from plates or bowls but also handy when you can't use your classroom for doing PPA stuff. There were a couple of computers at the back for the same reasons, and a photocopier. We did have morning briefings in there as well. It was a well-used space but it was secondary and at a time when we had an hour for lunch so people did actually have a bit of time to go and be sociable.

The hot water boiler and dishwasher worked hard but could have done with an extra microwave if I was being picky.

2 microwaves, big enough fridge, cutlery.