Supporting Regulation & Learning Through Acoustic Design: Sherwood Hill School
◆ Overview
Simple Acoustics worked with Sherwood Hill School to transform their learning environment into a more regulation-friendly space for pupils with complex needs. The project focused on improving acoustics across the entire school to support wellbeing, engagement, and access to learning.
◆ The Challenge
Sherwood Hill School, a specialist setting for autistic pupils with high support needs, faced significant challenges due to poor acoustics throughout the building. Despite being a purpose-built site, classrooms, corridors, stairwells, and the hall created overwhelming noise levels. This made it difficult for pupils to remain regulated, particularly during transitions between spaces — resulting in increased stress, reduced engagement, and a higher number of incidents during movement around the school.
◆ The Solution
Following approval of SEN funding, Simple Acoustics delivered a comprehensive acoustic treatment programme across the school. This included installing acoustic cladding in all 13 classrooms, as well as hallways, stairwells, and the main hall. Each space was carefully treated to reduce noise levels and create a calmer, more supportive environment for pupils and staff.
◆ The Results
The improvements have had a significant and lasting impact. Pupils are now able to remain more regulated within their classroom environments, choosing to stay engaged in lessons for longer periods. Transitions between spaces are calmer and less stressful, and there has been a noticeable increase in participation in both classroom learning and whole-school activities. The success of the project has led the school to explore extending acoustic treatments across their additional sites.
“Our Sherwood Hill Campus is a purpose-built site for autistic pupils who have high support needs. The site opened 10 years ago but the acoustics were not effective at supporting learning in the classrooms, corridors, stairwells and hall. This was affecting the pupils’ ability to remain regulated for learning and increased stress during transitions.”
“The Local Authority agreed to fund an acoustic project through an SEN grant. This involved Simple Acoustics cladding all 13 classrooms, hallways, stairwells and our hall. The impact has been really positive — pupils remain more regulated, choosing to stay in class for longer periods, and are able to transition with less stress around the school. We are currently assessing the need to complete similar works on our other 2 sites.”
