Last updated on May 16th, 2023
Lockers can feel like a home base for students. Between the wild ups and downs of classes, keeping up with their social lives, and fitting in after-school sports and activities: they get a lot out of these personal spaces. Schools have a lot to prove, and with lockers, they can show their students that they see the best in them, that they want them to have their privacy: and that they recognize how much space is needed.
But schools also have to make intelligent decisions of their own.
Whether you’re shopping for kindergarten student lockers or for a university that wants to offer students some personal space: these are the top things that have to be considered.
1. Size Is Important to Your Students
No student needs an entire closet to themself during the school year, but the size of their locker matters. Some schools minimize and offer lockers that are closer to the size of a shoebox. Although these could be useful, if they have any large projects for a class or have an after-school sport they enjoy, they’ll often find themselves overwhelmed and have to carry their things around with them for the entire day. This isn’t ideal for anyone since it crowds classrooms and focuses on the lessons at hand for teachers.
Instead, try to consider how many classes a student has in a day, how many books they’ll need for each category, and how much space their school locker would need to accommodate two projects if they were due on the same day. It may feel hard to gauge, but the extra space means a lot to these students.
Super Tuff 12 Door Locker, Open
| Price | $3,252.00 including GST |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
| Desk Color | Calnan/White, Virginia Walnut/White |
2. Accessibility Matters
The classic tall lockers have an aesthetic advantage and allow students to have more space: but they’re not accessible for every student. So instead, you can fit more students and allow for shorter students and those with mobility problems to reach whatever they need in their day. Although this means less space per locker, it works out in the long term because that allows students to keep their lockers cleaner, allows more lockers in smaller areas, and gives your students the chance to learn how to manage their spaces better.
If your school wants to stick to tall lockers anyways, they’re fantastic: ensure that you have a few split-level lockers as well so that the option is there for students who need it.
Newport 6 Door Personal Locker Unit
| Price | $3,252.00 including GST |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
| Desk Color | Calnan/White, Virginia Walnut/White |
3. Schools Need Lockers That Will Last
Lockers are a significant investment, so you must pick ones that will last. School lockers in Australia go through getting slammed shut, having poster tape, magnets, stickers hung up inside them, and even the occasional forgotten food sitting inside of them. So whether you go for plastic or metal: you have to be sure that they’re durable.
The best way to ensure this is to look for ones made out of solid material. ABS plastic, or most heavy-duty metal, will be able to provide these lockers last for several generations of students. Inspect lockers before you purchase them to ensure that they live up to your expectations.
We all know that you can make as many rules as you want for students, telling them not to slam lockers or stick things inside them, but kids will do whatever they want anyway. So give your lockers a fighting chance to survive this use!
Outdoor lockers
| Price | $3,252.00 including GST |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
| Desk Color | Calnan/White, Virginia Walnut/White |
4. They Don’t Have To Be Plain Looking
When school lockers are brought up, most people think of very plain and simple colours. These simple colours allow the safes to blend into the rest of the school; they look sleek and allow students to customize the inside of it as much as they want. But, unfortunately, they don’t cut it for schools that are for younger children or schools that want to set themselves apart as artsy and fun. School lockers in Australia should be as fun and exciting as our students are!
Heavy-duty plastic lockers can come in an assortment of vivid colours, letting your school show off their team pride while also being pleasing to the eyes. This can be great for daily use or even for use in changing rooms during gym or athletic events. The bright colour might not be for every school, but it adds a little personality in an area most people ignore.
Plastic storage
| Price | $3,252.00 including GST |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
| Desk Color | Calnan/White, Virginia Walnut/White |
5. A Lock Is Vital, Regardless of the School
Although many schools have faith in their students and don’t think they would try to steal from each other soon, you can never predict every person’s actions. Locks are a vital component that will let your employees feel respected and safe while also empowering them to call space in their school their own.
This leaves three options for lockers.
Built-in combination locks used to be popular, but with all of the other paperwork and balancing a school has to do between years, figuring out which lockers are newly available, and ensuring students keep the same lockers throughout their time at that school so that they don’t know the combination to someone else’s belongings, is a significant hassle.
Lockers, where students can add their own locks, are a great option. This type of locker allows the students to decide on how secure they want their belongings to be, and if they forget the combination, all you need is a lock cutter for the school’s caretaker.
Key-lock lockers. For most schools, this is the best option. Lockers will have just a few keys as replacements if anything happens, and students will rest easy knowing their items are safe. Of course, the keys will have to be tracked and kept somewhere secure, but this is easier than keeping track of a couple of thousand combinations.
Keep your students’ needs in mind, and find a locker that’s both sturdy enough to last and fits the aesthetics of your school. If you make the right choice, these lockers will feel like a home-based to countless students for the foreseeable future: it’s okay to take this decision seriously.
