Ceiling tiles for education and classrooms

When it comes to classrooms, sound absorption is less important than you think. Ceilings that absorb too much sound deaden classroom environments and make it more difficult for teachers to communicate with students. To put it simply, teachers have to work harder to project their voices across the room, which results in vocal strain. Ceiling tiles with high sound absorption qualities do not make a good classroom environment for teachers and students.

Instead, we recommend ceiling tiles that offer a good balance between sound absorption and sound attenuation. These tiles take the edge off noisy classroom chatter, but reflect some soundwaves back into the room, so teachers don’t have to work quite as hard to be heard by their pupils while they’re teaching lessons. A balanced, practical ceiling solution that provides the best learning environment for all.

A bright environment makes everything clearer. In a school, the main objectives is to make the best possible use of daylight to avoid having to use electricity. The ceiling can play a crucial part in optimising light reflectance which can allow energy savings, in case of indirect lighting. Combining high-reflectance mineral ceiling tiles with larger windows or floor-to-ceiling glazing provides an easy way to make this happen.

Research has also shown a conclusive link between the provision of natural light and academic success, with one study showing that students working in classrooms with higher levels of daylight achieve 7% to 18% higher test scores. Another – Clever Classrooms – suggests that the design of a classroom has a c.25% impact, positive or negative, on the academic progress of students over the course of a year.

On the flip side, too much natural light can cause eye strain or create glare that distracts students and staff alike. Reflectance must be balanced with diffusion – transforming the harshness of direct light into a more scattered, ambient glow, bathing classrooms in pleasantly bright light without it becoming an issue.

Beyond light, acoustics, and aesthetics, it’s also important to consider things like fire safety and durability. You may also wish to consider ease of installation and maintenance, so that the initial project can be completed on time and on budget, and so that the ceiling tiles, grids and the infrastructure they conceal can be maintained in the future.