New start in state-of-the-art school for special needs students in Lambeth

03 April 2008

Students and staff from The Michael Tippett School in Lambeth today showed the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, around their state-of-the-art building when he officially opened their new Special Educational Needs school.

Designed and constructed by Apollo Education, working with architects including London Eye architects Marks Barfield, The Michael Tippett School provides a learning environment for around 80 pupils aged between 11 and 18 with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Every aspect of the building has been designed specifically for the needs of the students, with features including a sensory room, a garden which can be used as an external learning space, hydrotherapy pool, spacious changing facilities with state-of-the-art hoists, wheelchair-accessible classrooms, wide corridors and a lift, a kitchen to help students develop basic cooking skills, a music/drama studio, and a community hall for sports and social activities. Doors are colour coded throughout the school – blue for toilets, yellow for classrooms and red for staff rooms – so students can easily find their way around the two-storey building.

The Lambeth school, which has been operating on the new site in Herne Hill, London, since February, brings together students and staff who were previously located on two separate sites in Kennington and Norwood.

Headteacher Jan Stogdon said the students were already responding positively to their new learning environment. She added: "For many of our students communication is a real challenge, and they can find it hard to adapt to changes to where they learn and how they learn. The input that students and staff have had throughout the design and construction process has helped our children understand the transition to a different site. We have all been amazed by how quickly the students have settled in to their new surroundings and how excited they are by the new facilities on offer."

Speaking at the opening, Secretary of State, Ed Balls said:
"Children with special educational needs require state-of-the-art buildings and facilities so that they are given as many of the opportunities as possible that many mainstream young people take for granted. This new building follows an extensive process of ensuring that the design is ideal for the needs of young people with learning disabilities or special needs. Building Schools for the Future is not just another government catchphrase - it is actually delivering new, high-quality buildings where a decade ago there were schools with leaky roofs, damp floors and broken windows. This is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform children’s lives in every single school in England."
 
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said:
"The Building Schools for the Future programme is about giving all young people better and brighter futures, no matter what their background or abilities. I have taken a very close and personal interest in the development of The Michael Tippett School, and, as one of the first SEN schools in the country to open under BSF, this is a shining example of the very positive impact that a new and bespoke environment can have, including in some quite challenging circumstances.

"I am delighted to hear that investment through the BSF programme is already making a real difference to these students, their teachers and carers, and their families, and I am convinced this wonderful building and its facilities will be a legacy for very special students in Lambeth for generations to come."

Phyllis Dunipace, Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services at Lambeth Council, said: "It is a joy to see the completion of such a wonderful and dynamic building. How appropriate that the first school to be completed in Lambeth’s BSF programme is one for children with special needs. The project demonstrates that Lambeth is committed to providing every student in the borough with the best possible learning environment."

The Michael Tippett School has been designed to be an eco-friendly building. Among the energy efficient features are a sedum roof, which helps insulate the building and provide a habitat for wildlife, a Combined Heat and Power plant which will use the excess heat produced by the school to heat the hydrotherapy pool, and CO2 monitors within the classrooms. The outside of building features free-standing laminated-timber columns spanned by vividly coloured metal louvres which give the school a bright and cheery character while also shading the classroom windows.

The school, built through a design and build procurement route, was delivered in just 54 weeks from the start of construction in January 2007 to occupation in February 2008.

Notes to Editors:

1. A video of students, their parents and staff from the Michael Tippett School talking about the impact of their new school will be shown for the first time at the event. It can be viewed on the PfS website at: http://www.partnershipsforschools.org.uk/library/bsf_voices_michael_tippett.jsp
2. The Michael Tippett School was designed and constructed by Apollo Education, part of the Apollo Group, working with architects including Marks Barfield Architects, Giffords and Pinnacle-ESP. Marks Barfield is the international team behind the creation of the London Eye.
3. The school’s ICT is provided by RM who worked with the school’s staff to identify technology and projects that are relevant to their needs.
4. The Michael Tippett School is part of the first phase of the London Borough of Lambeth’s BSF programme. A further four schools are currently in construction in the Borough, with two of these to be completed later in 2008 and the other two in 2009 and 2010. Lambeth is currently completing its Strategy for Change document and will start procurement for the second phase of its BSF programme in September 2008.
5. The Michael Tippett School is one of 12 BSF schools now open nationwide. The schools are: Ifield, Kent (March 08); The Michael Tippett School, Lambeth (Feb 08); Sandon High School, Stoke (Feb 08); Birches Head, Stoke (Oct 07); the Elmgreen School, Lambeth (Sept 07); Bristol Brunel Academy (Sept 07); Sixth Form, Haringey (Sept 07); Oxclose, Sunderland (June 07); Chaucer, Sheffield (Oct 06); Bamburgh, STaG  (Oct 06); All Saints, Newcastle (Sept 06); and Solihull Centre for Inclusive Learning (May 06).
6. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew England’s state secondary schools estate over the lifetime of the programme.
7. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for Building Schools for the Future. PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DCSF (formerly DfES) and Partnerships UK. 

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Amy Leonard, Communications Director, Partnerships for Schools: 07960 116966.