Skypoint School shines with Valspar Trade

When Skypoint School, part of Spark of Genius’ UK network of specialist education providers, relocated to a striking 19th Century building, it marked more than just a change of address. As part of the move, the interiors had to be transformed into a welcoming environment tailored to young people with additional support needs – with Valspar Trade Tough Matt playing a key role in making this vision a reality. 

Spark of Genius, part of CareTech, are a leading provider of education and residential care throughout the UK, with a focus on empowering and enabling children and young people. Skypoint School, one of its independent specialist schools, is dedicated to providing tailored education to young people aged from 7 to 18 with additional support needs.

Having recently moved to a new site in Greenock, Scotland, a full building refurbishment was required before the start of the new academic year, with half a million pounds invested.

Speaking about the project, Scott Wilson, Project Manager at Spark of Genius, said: “The move represents an exciting step forward for the school community, offering more space and a chance to expand. The new location is a beautiful, listed building that dates back to 1865. It required a full redecoration, with the previous interior featuring some quite dark and overly vibrant colours. Our plan was to create a brighter, calming and more welcoming environment, with white ceilings and pastel colours on the walls.

Valspar Trade Tough Matt is a water-based, stain resistant and scrubbable formulation, giving long-term performance, while its high opacity and superior covering power ensures excellent application.

Scott continued: “Our local Valspar Trade representative was on hand throughout, including carrying out site visits and supporting with estimated paint quantities. He also helped us with the colour scheme specification. Within the education sector, the emphasis is on creating a welcoming environment that inspires productivity – something that becomes even more critical when it comes to creating a safe learning space for young people with additional support needs. As such, we chose a variety of calming, pastel shades for the internal walls, including Blue Wash, Dusky Sand and White Moss.

“The site team have been really pleased with the paint’s opacity, saving them valuable time. The coverage was particularly impressive when you consider some of the dark green walls we were painting over. We expected it to take multiple coats, so were pleasantly surprised that it only took two coats of Valspar Trade Tough Matt to achieve a high-quality finish and true colour.”

From Sherwin Williams, Valspar Trade offers a range of high-quality paint essentials for all interior and exterior applications, designed to provide the perfect finish every time. Priding itself on its colour matching capabilities, with a database of over 2.2 million shades, Valspar Trade is available exclusively at TradePoint, with a Direct2Site service available on orders of 100 litres or £500.

Learn more about Valspar Trade, here.