Do modern schoolyard spaces support secondary student health and wellbeing? 

Students spend a large portion of their adolescence in school and they experience rapid emotional and physical change during this time: puberty, hormonal changes, social awareness, growth spurts and physical changes, relationships and more. Our schoolyards can be home to intense social, emotional and physical experiences but can also offer relief and outlets for students in these contexts. While classwork can be sensitive to these changes and supports are offered by schools, it is unclear whether schoolyard design supports student wellbeing during this period of change. 

Given the rising rates of stress and anxiety among young people, researchers at the University of Canberra wanted to investigate how secondary schoolyards can be a better used as a tool to improve and support student wellbeing. Conducted between February 2020 and January 2024, the research raised awareness of schoolyard spaces and their impact on mental health and wellbeing of students in Years 7 to 12, and was submitted to ACT Parliamentary Inquiry into the Future of School Infrastructure in the ACT in 2023.

The research was undertaken at UC as a PhD thesis by Gweneth Leigh, supported by researchers in UC’s Faculty of Health and Faculty of Arts and Design. The three separate studies conducted involved secondary students at public and private high schools and colleges in Canberra (users of secondary schoolyards) and expert groups made up of design practitioners and secondary school principals from across Australia. The students provided feedback and insight into how they used their schoolyard spaces, what they like and don’t like, what is important to them in these spaces, recommendations and ideas. Experts provided feedback on the effectiveness of existing schoolyard design models, including the impact of existing design standards as well. This feedback helped to identify what types of schoolyard design we should be aspiring to, which gave .What did experts do?

UC researchers found both students and experts agree that secondary schoolyards should be places that support student health and wellbeing, and they currently do this well through sitting areas and sporting infrastructure. However, the research found existing designs are seen as suboptimal for meeting broader wellbeing needs, particularly for female and older students. Current designs do not program diversity well, the design process does not incorporate student feedback, and design standards don’t prioritise the affordance of wellbeing in schoolyards. The findings built evidence on new ways of understanding and assessing the perceived impacts of the built environment through the lens of restorative health. Other research demonstrates that access to open space is not a luxury, but an essential service for good health and wellbeing. So, with better resourcing, student involvement, thoughtful design and evidence-based impact measures, schoolyard spaces can be better designed to support and promote student restoration through meaningful site connections and interactions. This can be a preventative measure and reduce burdens on school counsellors and staff, who so often play frontline roles in managing mental health among adolescents at school.  

Conducting the research in ACT secondary schools 

One of the research projects involved an ideas competition called ‘The schoolyard I’d like’, inviting students from all secondary public and private high schools and colleges in Canberra to participate. 38 students in Years 7 to 12 submitted their ideas, including slides, ping pong tables, kitchen gardens, ‘hardcore parkour’ features and more. The competition (and participation in the research) raised awareness about the quality and value of schoolyard environments on student health and empowered local students to voice their ideas and concerns. Design subjects at St Clare’s College and Radford College focused on schoolyards in 2021.  

The second study focussed on investigating the restorative effects of an existing secondary schoolyard at a Canberra high school. Approximately 280 students in Years 7 to 10 were invited to complete a survey where they could rate the quality of their schoolyard experiences. The survey found female and older students were not meeting their broader wellbeing needs in existing spaces. Students wanted places they could gather and sit, gardens they could look after, as well as a sense of community and safety. The study drew the attention of local media outlets including The Canberra Times, Broad Agenda and ABC Radio, as well as nationally on ABC Radio National. Lead researcher Gweneth Leigh was also highly involved in the ACT Parliamentary Inquiry into the Future of School Infrastructure in the ACT, consulting as an academic and landscape architect and made submissions to the inquiry process based on her research. The report on the inquiry made a series of recommendations, including setting tree canopy targets for schools and ensuring playground designs were gender sensitive.

Back home at UC, the schoolyard research became the focus of a design studio for second-year landscape architecture students in Semester One, 2022. The project offered unique insights for our up-and-coming landscape architects, who may design secondary schools and schoolyard spaces in the future and demonstrated the impact of urban design on restorative health and wellbeing.