Research on learning with and in immersive virtual reality (VR) continues to grow, yielding more insights into how immersive learning works. However, the actual use of VR learning environments in schools is still in its infancy. A major hurdle that hinders the use of immersive digital media in schools is the lack of guidelines for designing VR learning environments for practical use in schools. Such guidelines need to consider how students interact and learn in VR learning environments and how teachers can use such environments on a day-to-day basis. Using a design-based research approach, we explored the guidelines for creating VR learning content for tenth-grade students in a German secondary school and recreated a real-world, out-of-school VR learning space which can be used for hands-on instruction. This paper investigated how to maximise the experience of spatial presence by creating a VR learning environment in several microcycles. Furthermore, it took a closer look at the influence of the spatial situation model and cognitive involvement on this process. The results were evaluated with ANOVAs and path analyses, showing, for example, that involvement does not influence spatial presence in highly immersive and realistic VR learning environments.