This is a swirling and confusing time for those involved in schools and education. As a new landscape is taking shape there are a few things to note and a some to be wary of. It’s a heady mix for teachers and those at the sharp end as we wait for the headline spending figures on October 20th in the Spending Review. So ahead of our BCSE Annual Conference which focuses on the changing policy landscape – here are my top five areas of interest that will provide some of the dynamics of the shifting policy season through the Autumn and sharp Winter. 1) Building Schools for the Future
After a very short honeymoon period for the coalition – a promised Emergency Budget – then set in motion the announcement of the rapid termination of over 700 school projects. This was hard politics for all concerned and caused real human anguish in the manner of its delivery. It says much for the Secretary of State that he apologised more than once. There are still schools in the pipeline but looking over the Christmas horizon, schools, local authorities and the construction sector need certainty of planning and intent.
Yet this Coalition Government has said it will continue investing in the school estate. Above all, this is more important than the survival of a quango – Partnerships for Schools – who seem to be in the process of constant reinvention. This is about the key strategic decision – how do you up-date a schools estate that in the main is beyond its design life and does not properly support teachers to do their jobs? As one colleague in the industry said to me – ‘The investment was right; the way we did it was wrong.’
2) Academies and Free Schools
After the fastest piece of law making we’ve seen in a long time this has to be more than just a mere numbers game. New freedoms for schools and new ‘free’ schools have to demonstrate clear and applicable innovations of success for a wider system, not yet convinced that mere change for change’s sake is what they need. Waves of converters to Academy status have pledged to work with other schools and share their expertise – these alliances have to build real trust at local level.
The potential sixteen Free Schools, billed as an innovation in pupil place planning, have to build on more than an understandable frustration with the existing education system. In light of opposition this week from Liberal Democrat conference, free schools must be truly diverse and based more on partnership than polemic. Exceptional people in schools, local councils and the voluntary sector are already doing exceptional things for our young people. The key will be to celebrate and connect them into the current infrastucture not for them to become caricatured and isolated as education follies.
3) Decent school environments
I recently sat on the BBC TV Breakfast sofa and watched the pupils and teachers from a school in Derby tell the nation why decent school environments matter. This was not about luxuries or frills. It was about leaky roofs, broken furniture, lack of light, bad acoustics and lack of disability access – all factors that prevent pupils from learning and meaning their teachers were not supported to do their job.
I hope for all concerned within education that it is mere coincidence that the worth of design in schools and the skills of architects who are currently being traduced in the media – is not part of a campaign to diminish the role that the school environment plays in improving schools. There is also a blame game directed at so-called greedy contractors – the majority of whom have been building world class schools in both the state and the private sector.
What we know is that there is a wealth of evidence globally and from other sectors that quality air, light, furniture and acoustics affect performance. Well engineered and well designed spaces matter for our teachers and learners. Decent school environments are an asset and a tool for school improvement. They underpin and support quality teaching and can enrich learning. Decent school environments create safe and ordered spaces and places for our children. Beware the posturing and positioning in the media. Britain needs to be ambitious for its schools.
4) Schools Capital Review
Too often in the past our school investment programmes were saddled with windy rhetoric and organisational bias. Was BSF so retro-fitted that it became almost alienating to those on the ground? This review has to be the overhaul of schools capital that we all want. Open and honest. And not afraid to challenge the status quo. This is about the national interest not organisational self-interest.
I welcome the involvement of Tesco and Dixons – we’ve always got something to learn from other sectors. I welcome the involvement of ‘people’ – focused Lewisham Council. We need to get to collaborative procurement, enduring partnerships, deep learning and simplicity of process and outcome. We need carbon reduction at the core of the business plan. There is also a useful new 3R’s – refresh, refurbishment and re-use – to consider. Schools infrastructure investment itself is a productive investment – jobs, kit, supply chain and community.
5) The £1400m2 challenge
Finally, we’ve come a long way in testing and modelling school design – from exemplar designs to the new £1400m2 challenge. How do you drive down the cost per square metre? Can we design and build a school at around £1400m2 as they do in Europe and Ireland. Of course we need to look at value and driving out waste in the system. The chance was there three years ago with the Review of BSF – instead we got flimsy legal advice and we merely tinkered at change.
But, we’re learning that mere top down command and control doesn’t culture the innovation needed. Excessive concentrations of power lacking in transparency and accountability will merely repeat the mistakes of the past.
Our national challenge is we have thousands of schools that need fixing up and we’ve got a lot less money with which to do it. Quite simply we need to think and not be afraid to think differently.
Those are the challenges ahead – lets keep the debate going between industry, schools, local authorities and the policy makers in central government about making the system better.
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