10 real school problems that can become a project day

You do not have to look far for a good project day topic. Just walk around the school, look at its website or ask students, parents and teachers what makes their everyday lives unnecessarily difficult. A specific problem can become a project that brings several subjects together and leaves the school with a useful proposal, prototype or set of recommendations.

The essence of this kind of project day is that you do not impose a direction, a problem or its solution on students. Finding and defining a problem is stimulating in itself and encourages critical thinking; combined with looking for solutions, it naturally leads students towards constructive thinking. They have the opportunity to practise and develop skills that may not yet have come into play in regular lessons, in areas that directly affect them. Actually solving one of the problems can be a real boost. Nevertheless, keep ambitions and expectations realistic.

How to choose a problem you can tackle within the project

The best brief is usually specific enough, has a real user and allows students to create something they can show and test. ‘Improve our school’ is too broad. ‘Help a new student find their feet during their first week’ gives groups a direction while leaving room for different ideas.

The following suggestions are not ready-made lesson plans. Each can be scaled down to one class and one day, or shared between several classes and developed into a longer project.

When helping students identify and define a problem, you can guide them towards one of the following areas. However, the final choice may depend on its relevance, how feasible it is to solve, or simply the value of discussing the issues students have discovered. And who says there can only be one such project?

1 Information is hard to find on the school website

Students observe how different visitors search for contact details, dates or information for new students. They design a new homepage, part of the navigation or a route to a specific piece of information, and test it with users. A separate article on designing a school website provides a detailed walkthrough.

2 New students struggle to find their way around school

The outcome could be a map, a set of wayfinding signs, a short guide or an AI assistant prototype. Students need to find out which situations newcomers genuinely struggle with and check whether the proposed support makes sense to them.

3 Important changes reach classes too late

Groups map how information about cover lessons, events or classroom changes currently travels. They could design one part of a school app, an information screen or a simpler way to pass on messages. They are not redesigning the entire communication system, just one specific information pathway.

4 The school canteen needs clearer communication

Students could explore menus, cancelling lunch orders, allergen information or feedback from diners. The outcome might be a new form, part of an app, an information poster or a proposal for displaying information more clearly.

5 The school wants to showcase its projects more effectively

The class chooses one real school project and prepares a way to explain it to parents, prospective students or the public. This could be a short video, a web page, a podcast, an exhibition or an interactive presentation. The focus is on addressing different audiences, not on the number of effects.

6 The school produces unnecessary waste

Students first find out where waste is produced and what kind it is, and only then propose a change. They could develop a new labelling system, an information campaign, a different bin layout or a prototype for tracking results simply. The project naturally combines observation, data, graphics and communication.

7 Some school spaces are difficult to use

A corridor, library, cloakroom or school yard may be confusing, noisy or underused. Groups observe how the space is used, talk to users and create a model or visualisation of a change. They can address wayfinding, relaxation, group work and accessibility.

8 School rules are difficult to understand

Students choose a rule that often needs explaining or is frequently broken, and investigate why. They prepare a clearer version, an infographic, a short script or an example situation. The aim is not to dilute the rule's meaning, but to check whether different people understand it in the same way.

9 Students want to create their own educational game

Groups choose a topic, decide what players should learn during the game and create an initial prototype. After a playtest, they adjust the rules and difficulty. AI can suggest variations on the story or tasks, but only real players can establish how good the game is.

10 Students and teachers lack clear rules for using AI safely

Older students can map where classmates and teachers already use AI, what questions they face and where rules are missing. The outcome might be a draft short guide, a set of example situations or recommendations for the student council and school leadership. No sensitive data is collected, and the findings do not replace the school's decisions. Am I officially allowed to use AI for homework? Under what conditions? Can a teacher reject my work? Where are the boundaries?

Turn an idea into a real project brief

Whatever topic you choose, return to three questions: Who do we want to help? What do we need to find out? How will we know the proposal works? The answers will keep the project manageable and help distinguish a project day from open-ended creative activities without a shared goal.