Education Business

Last month another 22 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) schools opened their doors to students, teachers and communities in eight local authority areas across the country, from Bristol in the south to Newcastle in the north. The opening of these new schools is not the end of the journey, but merely the start of a new one for thousands of young people.
    
It is, however, a hugely significant milestone and something that all of us involved in the BSF programme should celebrate as the national programme to renew secondary schools across the country gains momentum.
    
The summer months have been far from quiet for Partnerships for Schools, with the BSF community working hard to close more deals, to complete construction of school buildings in time for the start of term, and to get more local authorities started on their BSF schemes. Indeed eight more local authorities - Enfield, Hounslow, North Tyneside, Rotherham, Southampton, Staffordshire, Walsall and Worcestershire - were fast-tracked this summer to join the once-in-a-generation programme, bringing the total number of local authorities now in the programme to 80.

Giving evidence of success
We have also come under a fair amount of scrutiny over recent months, which is only right for a programme of the magnitude and significance of BSF. In July, I gave evidence to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee – a year on from their initial report on Sustainability in BSF.
    
For over an hour I updated MPs with the progress of BSF and the state of the market. I was quizzed on topics ranging from whether there were barriers to entry for SMEs; what plans are in place to evaluate the outcomes of BSF and in particular whether carbon reduction has been achieved; and how BSF joins up with primary and 14-19 strategies.
    
For me, the most exciting developments over recent months have been the research coming through, which is starting to show that schools transformed through BSF really are beginning to make a real difference to the behaviour and self-esteem of students.
    
BSF means major investment in secondary schools, and new and refurbished buildings are obviously an important element of this unprecedented programme. But beyond bricks and mortar, BSF is about transforming the way students learn and teachers teach. It is about putting schools at the centre of their communities, and creating better and brighter futures for millions of young people in England.

Revolutionising schools
Our aim is to revolutionise the quality of schools with cutting-edge design and energy efficient buildings. They will be safe, welcoming and inspiring environments that are used not only by students and teachers, but by local residents throughout the year. As such it is something that all of us - whether we are parents, members of the business community, or simply concerned citizens - should take an interest in and support in our local area.
    
We are beginning to hear how schools of last resort are now becoming first choices for many parents, of exclusion rates falling, and GCSE results improving. Students at the four mainstream BSF secondary schools - in Bristol, Newcastle, Sheffield and Sunderland - that have been operational for at least a year have now received their examination results and overall top grade pass rates improved by an average of ten percentage points.
    
At Oxclose Community School in Sunderland, 62 per cent of students were awarded five or more GCSE grades A* to C, including English and Maths, compared with 41 per cent in 2007. Bristol Brunel Academy, the first new build BSF school, open since September 2007, saw the percentage of top grades rise from 19 per cent to 34 per cent. Chaucer Business and Enterprise College in Sheffield celebrated its best-ever GCSE results, with 22 per cent of students awarded five or more top grades, including English and Maths, up from 18 per cent the previous year. While at All Saints College in Newcastle, which saw a record number of students obtain university places after this year’s A level results, the percentage of students with top grade GCSEs remained the same as 2007, with 17 per cent awarded five or more A* to C passes, including English and Maths.
    
Head teachers from these schools have said that new facilities have had a positive impact on behaviour and attainment, with Tony Cunningham of Oxclose adding: "Our refurbished facilities have allowed new opportunities to deliver high-quality teaching and learning in a first-class learning environment which certainly made a contribution to Oxclose Community School achieving its best ever GCSE results."

A positive impact
Independent research is also starting to demonstrate the tangible impact of new and refurbished buildings on young people’s behaviour, attitudes and self-esteem. A study conducted with Bristol Brunel Academy students before and after they moved into their award-winning BSF school found that they felt safer, more inspired, and enjoyed going to school more than ever before.
    
The proportions of students who said that they felt proud of their school increased from 43 to 77 per cent; those who perceived that vandalism was at least ‘a bit of a problem’ in their school decreased from 84 per cent of respondents to 33 per cent; and the number who thought that bullying was a big problem decreased from 39 per cent of students in the ‘before’ survey, to 16 per cent ‘after’.
    
The first independent evaluation of BSF, published by the DCSF at the end of last year, revealed that nine out of ten head teachers believed BSF will lead to improvements in personalised learning and improve the overall quality of teaching and learning. This growing body of evidence about improvements to behaviour, self-esteem and results is proof, if it were needed, that BSF extends far beyond simply good-looking buildings.
    
High-quality school buildings that provide safe and inspiring places for students to learn and for teachers to teach are absolutely central to the success of BSF. That is why we have been working closely with CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment), the Sorrell Foundation, RIBA and other members of the design community, to drive up standards and ensure that we are simply providing new versions of old schools, but ones which respond to the needs of 21st century learning and teaching.

Quality design
In May the BSF contract with CABE transferred to PfS from the DCSF. Since then we have been working very constructively with CABE, the DCSF and other users to ensure design quality continues to be safeguarded in the BSF programme. We are currently in discussion about establishing an objective set of criteria to ensure that every school benefits from the highest quality designs that will deliver educational transformation, featuring the views of the users, and other stakeholders with expert opinions.
    
In addition to the CABE contract, PfS now also manages the contract with 4ps on behalf of the DCSF, and oversees the delivery and development of National College of School Leadership’s programmes associated with BSF. In this way PfS now provides a single gateway for guidance, advice and support about BSF, and we hope this will lead to even greater preparedness as more local authorities join the programme.
    
A total of 35 schools will open during the financial year 2008/09, increasing to around 115 in 2009/10, and over 150 in 2010/11, and as the programme develops we continue to learn - and apply - the lessons learned from earlier waves of BSF, and from the experiences and expertise of members of the BSF community.
    
Over the past 18 months PfS has instigated three separate reviews to deliver time and cost efficiencies across all stages of the process. This autumn the recommendations from the BSF Procurement Review, which took into account the views of construction and design players, will be implemented bringing with them a significant reduction in bidders’ costs by as much as 30 per cent (c.£250m) and reduce the timetable for delivery by up to two months. And a review of how Local Education Partnerships are working in the operational phase is currently ongoing.

Success in bad times
At a time when ‘credit crunch’ stories have translated from the business pages to the front pages, I am pleased to report that the state of the market for BSF continues to progress well. Three new players have recently entered the market, bringing the number of consortia engaged in BSF to 24.
    
As I regularly say, BSF is much more than just a large-scale building programme. Our legacy will therefore not be measured in bricks and mortar, but by our success in providing learning environments fit for citizens of the 21st century, and by our success in raising aspirations and improving the life chances of young people and communities across the country. I am pleased that we are beginning to see real evidence of this, and look forward to hearing more success stories over the coming 12 months.