Partnerships for Schools



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Partnerships for Schools
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Press Releases

Press Releases

Tower Hamlets Council building a brighter future for local students

09 September 2008

An exciting new era for East End education is due to begin, with Tower Hamlets Council pleased to announce Bouygues as its partner for the Building Schools for the Future programme.
 
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is a government programme that will see every single secondary school in the country rebuilt or refurbished in the next 15 years. Around £240m of funding will be put into improving Tower Hamlets schools as part of the programme.
 
The appointment of Bouygues comes following a rigorous tender process that involved bidders having to demonstrate their ability to fully deliver the programme and provide value for money. With the approval of Partnerships for Schools (PfS) – the government agency responsible for the BSF programme, we are pleased to announce that Bouygues has now been selected as the preferred bidder to deliver the Tower Hamlets programme.
 
As a result of Tower Hamlets’ BSF programme, secondary schools in the borough will be transformed into a 21st century, top-quality learning centres for students and the local community to make full use of. It will give students a more positive experience of their time at school, and also help to drive up academic performance.
 
The first schools in the borough to benefit from BSF will be Bethnal Green Technology College and St Paul’s Way Community School. St Paul’s Way will be completely rebuilt whilst Bethnal Green Technology College will be part rebuilt and part refurbished. Work is due to begin on both projects in early 2009.
 
And it’s not just students that will benefit from the new facilities. The whole of the local community will be able to take advantage of the new learning centres once they are complete – including sports equipment and Information Communications Technology (ICT) facilities. The major improvement in ICT is one of the key benefits of BSF, and is provided in Tower Hamlets programme by Ramesys as part of the Bouygues consortium.
 
Cllr Clair Hawkins, Lead Member for Children’s Services at Tower Hamlets Council said:
“This an extremely exciting time for Tower Hamlets schools and we are delighted to have Bouygues on board for our BSF programme.
 
“Our schools have made great improvements in terms of performance in recent years, and now we want to build on that progress by giving students and the local community better, modern facilities to learn in.
 
“We are now really looking forward to the work beginning and seeing the fantastic benefits that this programme will bring to Tower Hamlets.”
 
Kevan Collins, Director of Children’s Services at Tower Hamlets Council said: “This is the biggest investment our schools have ever seen, and it was vital that we had full confidence in our preferred bidder for the programme.
 
“Bouygues have demonstrated to us their ability to provide value for money and deliver work to a high standard, and are also already successfully delivering BSF schemes in Waltham Forest and Westminster.
 
“We’re confident that this programme will be extremely positive for not only schools and students in Tower Hamlets, but the community as a whole.”
 
Arnaud Bekaert, UK Education Director at Bouygues said: "We're really looking forward to working with Tower Hamlets as their partner in bringing this fantastic scheme to fruition.
 
“Bouygues is totally committed to supporting the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme and recognises the importance placed on bringing a new energy to learning environments, in the drive to transform education.
 
“This will be Bouygues UK’s third BSF scheme in London and, with this experience, we're absolutely confident that all local stakeholders – pupils and the wider community - will be delighted with the facilities to be delivered"
 
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools – the government agency responsible for the BSF programme said: “We congratulate Tower Hamlets on reaching this important milestone in their BFS project. It is good news for the progress of the BSF programme nationally and even better news for the learners and communities in the borough.
 
“The new and improved buildings, facilities and technology will have an enormous impact on the education and life chances of every young person in Tower Hamlets.”
 
Mark Chambers, Chief Executive at Ramesys – who will provide the ICT solutions for the programme said: “Ramesys’ values, beliefs and organisational culture all revolve around a collective desire to provide Tower Hamlets’ learners and practitioners with technology and services that truly transform their ways of working and align with their 21st century lives.”
 
The Tower Hamlets programme will be delivered in two “waves” with the first wave including Bethnal Green Technology College and St Paul’s Way Community School. The remaining secondary schools in the borough will be included in the next wave.
 
As BSF progresses in Tower Hamlets, Bouygues and the council will be working with schools, students and the local community to ensure the new schools meet the needs of the very people that will be using them in the near future.