Moving School Furniture During Holidays: A Planning Guide

Resumption is three weeks away. The new block has been handed over, the old classrooms are still full of desks, and nobody has written down which JSS 2 arm is going to which room. The move has not gone wrong yet. It will if the first truck arrives before there is a plan.

Schools move furniture more often than people think, for a new building, a new block, a refurbishment or a reshuffle of rooms. The work nearly always happens while pupils are away, in a fixed window, with hundreds of near-identical items. Get it wrong and term starts with chairs in the wrong rooms.

Work backwards from resumption day

The holiday is your deadline, so plan from the day staff and pupils come back:

1. Before term ends: confirm the plan, the vehicles, and who is responsible for each room.
2. First days of the holiday: inventory, packing and labelling.
3. Middle of the holiday: the main moving days.
4. One week before resumption: everything in its new room, set up and checked.

Build in a buffer. Rain, a late key handover at the new site or a load that needs a second trip can each cost you a day. Mid-term breaks are usually too short for a full move, so keep them for small jobs like a single lab or the library.

Build a proper inventory

Schools nearly always underestimate what they own. Walk every room with a clipboard or a shared spreadsheet. Count desks, chairs, tables, teachers' desks, cupboards and shelves. Then the boards: whiteboards, chalkboards, notice boards and flip-chart stands.

The library has shelving units, reading tables and books, which you count in boxes, not titles. Labs have benches, stools, cabinets, glassware and equipment. The admin and ICT side has computers, printers, projectors, filing cabinets and safes. The hall and sports store hide benches, mats, stage blocks and sports kit.

For every item, note the room it is leaving, the room it is going to, and whether it is being kept, moved or disposed of. This is the moment to leave the broken desks behind instead of paying to move them.

Label everything by destination room

Labelling is what makes offloading fast. Give every destination room a code, such as "B-JSS2A" for Block B, JSS 2A. Use one colour of tape or sticker per block or floor, and write the room code in large letters. Label every desk, chair stack, box and board on at least two sides, because one side always ends up against a wall. Before moving day, stick a matching sign on each destination door.

When the box says "LIB-3" and the door says "LIB-3", nobody has to stop and ask the bursar where it goes.

The tricky rooms

Library

Pack books flat or spine-down in small boxes so each box stays liftable. Number the boxes in shelf order, and the shelves can be refilled in sequence at the other end. Empty every shelving unit completely and take out loose shelves before anyone tries to move it.

Science labs

Wrap glassware piece by piece and pack it upright in sturdy boxes marked "FRAGILE". Chemicals are a separate matter. Only the responsible science staff should handle them, following the school's own safety procedures and the supplier's guidance on storage and transport. If anything is hazardous, keep it out of the furniture load entirely and get advice before it goes anywhere.

Whiteboards and noticeboards

Tape each board's brackets and screws in a bag to its back. Carry boards on their edge, wrapped in blankets or cardboard, and strap them upright in the vehicle.

Ready to move?

Book a truck or van on Sphere

Choose your vehicle, propose your price, and verified drivers in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan accept or send a counter-offer.

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Plan the trips

A school move is rarely one trip. Work by block or floor and finish one area before you open the next. Send the heavy, bulky pieces first (cupboards, shelving, lab benches) so each room can be set up around them. Desks and chairs follow, stacked only where they stack safely. Boxes, books and small items go last.

A truck suits large volumes of desks and chairs. A pickup van works well for library boxes, ICT equipment or one lab. On the Sphere app, pickup vans are listed up to 2,400kg and trucks up to 27,000kg. Run one large vehicle on repeat trips or several smaller ones at once. Our truck size guide helps you judge which.

Staff the move

Put one coordinator on each site with the inventory and the room plan. Give each block its own checker who ticks items off as they leave and arrive. Agree loading and offloading help with the driver before you accept an offer, and make sure the school's own staff or porters are around for the carry inside the buildings.

If the old and new sites are in different cities, read our guide to planning logistics across Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan for the extra timing to allow.

How to do this on Sphere

1. Open the Sphere app and choose a truck or pickup van for the trip.
2. Add the pickup and drop-off, with gate details and where the vehicle can park.
3. Describe the load clearly, for example "40 pupil desks, 40 chairs, 2 whiteboards, 15 boxes of books".
4. Propose your price. Nearby verified drivers accept it or send a counter-offer, and you choose.
5. Repeat for each trip in your plan.

Sphere works in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan. For bigger institutional moves in Lagos, see our office relocation page.