Classroom B at Aspen House Open Air School

Classroom B at Aspen House Open Air School

Classroom built in 1925 by the LCC Architect's Department. The building is constructed throughout in timber, with a hipped timber roof clad in felt and featuring deep overhanging eaves. It has a square plan and is raised off the ground on timber posts which support joists carrying floorboards.

When first built, the classroom was fully open to the elements above timber half walls. Windows were inserted sometime after 1929, almost certainly in the 1950s. On three sides, continuous windows above dado level consist of paired side-hung casements with catches to hold them fully open, topped with opening top lights. On the entrance side are three-part folding windows, also with catches and opening top lights. Two doors reach up a short flight of steps; the door to the right is a later insertion contemporary with the windows but identical in style to the other, with three glazed panels to the upper half. The interior has exposed roof timbers.

The site was purchased by the LCC in 1920 and plans for the new open-air school were approved in 1924. This was the fifth open-air school provided by the LCC, but the first built to an 'improved design' which subsequently became standard for such schools and for similar schools serving children suffering from tuberculosis. The LCC had pioneered open-air teaching in temporary accommodation from 1907 onwards.

Aspen House School provided education for anaemic, asthmatic and undernourished children, following a creative educational policy based on Pestalozzi principles. The curriculum included extensive lessons in nature study, physical exercises, gardening and creative play. Children were given three meals daily and required to rest for an hour in the afternoon (longer in summer) on beds in the open air. Classes were limited to no more than 32 children per teacher, with a nurse permanently attached to the school. Children typically spent an average of eighteen months at the school. The garden was integral to the regime, with trees from the former orchard on the site preserved and shrubs and bulbs added to provide interest, along with small paths and sheltering hedges to encourage wildlife habitats.