Providing shade at school

When designing shade structures, consider that New Zealand schools and kura need shade to be warm rather than cool.

When planning shaded areas for your school, you should consider:

• orientation
• shade material, such as deciduous trees or polycarbonate sheeting
• height and depth so ultraviolet radiation is blocked without making the space too cold to be comfortably used.

Verandas

If you decide to build a permanent structure to provide shade, such as a veranda, you should:

• attach it to the main building structure
• cover it with permanent material or translucent plastic sheeting
• if possible, use it to help to reduce glare to classrooms and create indoor-outdoor flow.

Verandas are ideal to create outdoor learning areas.

See the 'school products design guidance' on the below page for information about translucent roofing.

Designing Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand standards - Ministry of Education

Paying for verandas

Verandas are a 5 Year Agreement (5YA) priority 3 project if they are attached to the building and designed to create an outdoor learning area. 

If the veranda is part of a roof replacement project, it will be priority 2.

5 Year Agreement funding

Shade sails

Most shade sails, or sunshades, are open-sided structures, with a top cover made from a flexible material, such as canvas or a plastic product.

We do not recommend installing shade sails because they:

• have a limited life span
• are costly to install and maintain
• often put too much strain on the parts of the buildings they are attached to
• can be damaged or cause damage during extreme weather conditions.

Hazards of shade sails

With a shade sail, there is a risk that someone may climb on to it and fall off it or through it. You need to minimise this risk by making it difficult to climb on to the structure.

For example, do not build it near:

• trees
• any other structure or equipment that someone could use to climb on to it.

Paying for shade sails

Shade sails are a 5 Year Agreement (5YA) funding priority 4 project.

You can pay to install shade sails with board funding, such as fundraising or a community grant. If you do, you must also use board funding to pay for their maintenance.

Insuring shade sails

You must use board funding to pay for insurance for shade sails. Our school building insurance funding programme does not cover shade sails.

School building insurance funding programme