It is the second week of the July holidays, and a school business manager is walking the empty rooms with a clipboard. Year 2 is sitting on chairs sized for Year 6, two corridor lockers no longer latch, and the new senior study room has nowhere to write. Term 3 starts soon, and the classroom furniture list has to be ordered, delivered and set out before the first bell.
This guide covers student chairs, tablet arm chairs, desks, the teacher's station and school lockers, with the sizes and trade-offs that decide each order. If seating is the biggest gap, start with our training and school chairs.
Student chairs: size them by height, not year level
A chair that is too tall leaves feet dangling, and one too short folds the knees up and rounds the back. One Year 4 class can span a wide range of heights.
The Stackable School Chair (from $63) comes in five seat heights: 310mm, 350mm, 380mm, 430mm and 460mm. It is moulded in one piece from high impact polypropylene, with no sharp edges and an S shaped back that complies with EN1729 Part 1. EN 1729 is a European standard for school chairs and tables that sizes furniture by student height rather than age.
For a quick check, sit a student on the chair: feet flat on the floor, thighs roughly level and knees close to a right angle. Many rooms need two heights. Burgundy is offered only in the 430mm and 460mm sizes, and Lime and Red only in the three smaller sizes, so colour can show which chair belongs where.
The chairs stack up to 12 high, which clears the floor for cleaners faster than flipping chairs onto desks. At 6kg each, a stack of twelve 460mm chairs weighs 72kg, so build stacks against the wall where they will stay.
Tablet arm chairs for senior rooms and flexible spaces
Senior study rooms and multipurpose spaces often run without desks. A tablet arm chair gives each student a writing surface and lets the room switch from rows to a circle in minutes.
The Wimbledon Chair with Tablet Arm ($176) has a black perforated plastic back, a waterfall seat and a chrome steel rod sled base, with the tablet arm included. The seat is 445mm high and 425mm wide. It is BIFMA compliant to X5.1-2002, delivered assembled and backed by a 3 year Australian warranty, and the chairs link into straight rows.
The trade-off: it is not stackable while the tablet arm is attached, so plan floor space for cleaning days or move chairs on a Z trolley. The tablet arm is right-handed, and the left-handed arm is listed as discontinued, so count left-handed students before ordering a full room.
For adult learning spaces, our guide to training room furniture, flip-top tables and lecterns compares tablet arms with flip-top tables.
Student desks, lecterns and the teacher's desk
Desk height has to follow chair height. Our student desks and lecterns range includes fixed-height desks, a height adjustable tilt-top table and mobile lecterns.
For the teacher's station, the Logan Student Desk with Drawers ($293) is a compact choice. The desk is 1200mm wide, 600mm deep and 730mm high, with 25mm tops, shock absorbent PVC edges and adjustable feet. Its matching two-drawer unit has a lock as standard, which covers keys and marking. It comes in White / Ironstone, Beech / Ironstone or Oak / White, with a 5 year warranty.
At 730mm this is an adult-height desk, so pair it with the tallest chairs and keep it out of junior rooms. It arrives flat-packed, and the desk carton alone weighs 31kg.
Group work layouts come down to how often the room changes:
- Rows face the board and suit tests and direct teaching.
- Pods of four desks suit group work, with chairs on the outside edges.
- A horseshoe suits discussion and lets the teacher reach every student.
Keep a clear walkway around the edge, and mount the board where every pod can see it. Our magnetic whiteboards include mobile boards and four-term school planners.
School lockers: steel, door counts and locks
A bank of lockers fills a wall for years, so check construction, door count, lock type and stability.
The Steelco Heavy Duty School Lockers Single Bank ($594) is a three-door starter bank in solid steel, 1830mm high, 380mm wide and 580mm deep, with double-skinned flush doors that open 180 degrees. Every door has ventilation holes to help minimise odours, plus a nameplate insert. A padlatch is standard, and the two-tone grey finish carries a 10-Year Product Warranty.
It arrives pre-assembled at 33kg, so allow two people to carry it. Single units bank together for stability, and sloping tops, a bench seat, numbering and power options are sold separately.
Where wall space is tight, more doors per tower helps. The GO Steel Locker 4 Door (from $249) is fully riveted, with full-length door stiffeners and a coat hook and name holder in each compartment. It is 1830mm high in 305mm or 380mm widths, banks in lots of two or three and has a 10 year warranty.
Along 3 metres of wall, nine 305mm four-door towers give 36 compartments. The same wall holds seven three-door Steelco banks, giving 21 larger compartments.
Then choose the lock:
- Padlatch or butterfly lock: students bring their own padlock, so there are no keys to manage.
- Cam lock with 2 keys: simple, but someone has to keep the spares.
- Digital keypad: private programming suits a locker assigned to one student, and public programming suits shared, day-use lockers.
Classroom furniture by room: a quick comparison
| Room or zone | What matters most | Option from this guide | Stated detail | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary and secondary classrooms | Seat height that fits | Stackable School Chair | Five heights, stacks 12 high | From $63 |
| Senior study rooms | Writing surface without desks | Wimbledon Chair with Tablet Arm | Links in rows, not stackable with arm on | $176 |
| Teacher's station | Lockable storage | Logan Student Desk with Drawers | 1200 x 600mm top, lock as standard | $293 |
| Corridor locker bay | Durability and airflow | Steelco Heavy Duty School Lockers | 3 doors, ventilated, padlatch | $594 |
| Tight wall or staff area | More doors per metre | GO Steel Locker 4 Door | 4 doors, coat hooks, keypad option | From $249 |
Term 3 in Australian schools
Term 3 starts in July in every state and territory, straight after the winter holidays. That break is the window for deliveries and setting out rooms, because nobody wants to build desks around a class. Most items dispatch within 3 to 12 business days, so order early in the holidays.
The term runs through winter in the southern states, when wet jackets and sports bags fill lockers, so ventilated doors and coat hooks earn their place.
Deliveries go to the ground-floor entrance, so plan who carries a 33kg locker upstairs. Safe Work Australia's model Code of Practice on hazardous manual tasks covers lifting and carrying at work. Every product in this guide can be delivered to metro Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Classroom furniture — frequently asked questions
What height should a classroom chair be?
It should fit the student rather than the year level: feet flat, thighs level and knees near a right angle. The Stackable School Chair comes in seat heights from 310mm to 460mm, so one class can mix two sizes.
Can tablet arm chairs be stacked?
The Wimbledon Chair with Tablet Arm cannot be stacked while its tablet arm is attached. It links in rows instead and moves easily on a Z trolley.
How many doors should a school locker have?
Choose three doors for larger compartments that take bags and jackets, or four doors to fit more students along the same wall.
Do school lockers arrive assembled?
Some do: the Steelco Heavy Duty School Lockers arrive pre-assembled. Other goods arrive flat-packed unless the product page says assembled.
Shop the range
Start with training and school chairs, then add desks from student desks and lecterns and storage from our school lockers range. For a school that needs several chair sizes, the Stackable School Chair covers five seat heights in one design. Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, and prices include GST.
