BSF well on track as students and teachers celebrate opening of 50th new school

20 January 2009

Students and staff from Sedgehill School in Lewisham today showed the Minister of State for Schools and Learners, the Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, around their state-of-the-art new school, marking the 50th school to open through the Building Schools for the Future programme. This milestone sees BSF ahead of its delivery schedule for 2008/9, exceeding the published target of 47 schools by the end of March.

New BSF schools have opened for this first time this January in Bristol, Knowsley, Leicester, Lewisham, Manchester, as well as three more BSF schools in Sheffield. One of eight new BSF schools to open this term, Sedgehill provides a learning environment for 1,750 pupils and has a performing arts specialism. The school design is based on an agora, with a large outdoor space where students can socialise, as well as a main hall which can be used for a wide variety of activities including performances and assemblies.

Karen Bastick-Styles, Headteacher of Sedgehill School, said: “The opportunity to design and build a new school for the students and staff at Sedgehill has been an incredibly exciting experience. It’s allowed us as a community to think creatively and innovatively about the type of teaching and learning we want to develop at Sedgehill to inspire our students, to help us achieve our vision and to continue our improvements in all aspects of our attainment.

“The building really is quite beautiful. The colours, the bright light spaces and the campus design with our Centre Circle as a focus point, combine to make Sedgehill feel like a really special place ready for our students and staff to learn and achieve great success.”

Speaking at the opening, Jim Knight said: “The 50th BSF school is another significant milestone. Month by month, term by term BSF is building momentum and accelerating – giving pupils, teachers and parents outstanding facilities and transforming the face of education.

“BSF is the key to raising aspirations and standards – and the centrepiece of our education reform programme. By 2011, at least 200 BSF schools will be opening every year. We are looking to bring the remaining local authorities into the programme as soon as is practicable and expecting the vast majority of local authorities to finish their projects by 2020”.

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said: "Building Schools for the Future is all about giving every young person a better and brighter future, no matter what their background. I have taken a very close interest in the development of Sedgehill as it has emerged out of the ground, brick by brick. But what is undoubtedly more important than the physical structure and the innovative ICT here is what you actually do with it – how it is used by teachers, students and the community. Sedgehill has been on an improvement trajectory for a number of years now and I look forward to hearing about your continued success as a school as you make the most of this impressive new learning environment.

“BSF is now transforming education up and down the country for tens of thousands of students and hundreds of teachers. Schools are once again sitting at the heart of the communities they serve and reaching out to local people.

“With schools now opening ahead of schedule, the sense of momentum behind today’s milestone is testament to the resolute focus and determination of all parties involved in the programme to deliver truly inspiring environments in which every young person is given the opportunity to achieve their best. Today marks the moment when BSF moves from not only being on track, but ahead of schedule.”

Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham said: “Lewisham’s students are now really starting to benefit from the £210m BSF investment in the borough. Sedgehill staff and students not only have a brand new school worthy of an architectural award but enviable new learning and teaching facilities.

“Schools in Lewisham are among the fastest improving in the country and BSF will radically transform education even further, ensuring that our young people have the facilities they deserve. Over the next few years, BSF will allow us to rebuild or completely refurbish all our other secondary schools, not only providing outstanding education opportunities but also facilities for the wider community to enjoy.”

• The eight BSF schools which opened this month are:

1. The Bridge Learning Campus, Bristol, is an all-through school which provides education and training for adults, children and young people from the age of three upwards. The campus brings together a 45-place nursery, primary school, secondary school, a special school, a student support centre for 14-16 year-olds and a 200-place vocational Bridge Learning Centre for 14-19 year olds and adults to be run by City of Bristol College.

2. Fullhurst Community College, Leicester is part new build and part refurbishment. It preserves aspects of the original 1930s building, with the refurbished part of the school providing new facilities for music and dance. A new three-storey extension has been built around the hall creating an atrium space, more spacious corridors and flexible teaching spaces for individual and group work.  This extension will include the new entrance, new dining facilities, science laboratories, ICT rooms, library, community room and general classrooms.

3. Newfield Secondary is an 11-16 comprehensive school for approximately 950 students situated in the south-west of Sheffield. For many years Newfield School has consisted of two identical buildings: a separate girls' and a boys' school on the same site. These buildings have now been replaced with a state-of-the-art building offering performance spaces, music suites and interactive classrooms.

4. Talbot Special School, Sheffield, is a school for very vulnerable young people with a range of complex learning needs. Talbot promotes its specialism by sharing good practice and supporting the work of other colleagues within mainstream schools in the city. The school plans to promote the 24 hour curriculum, using technology to support learning at home for young people, their families and carers.

5. Silverdale Secondary, Sheffield is a comprehensive for around 1,250 students aged between 11 and 18 in the south west of Sheffield. It is a Specialist Language College. The school also works closely with employers and other schools and colleges to provide a wide range of opportunities for its students.

6. Christ the King, North Huyton, Knowsley is a 900-place learning centre which specialises in Engineering. The building provides a range of flexible spaces allowing one-to-one and small group teaching, lectures, practicals and even outdoor learning opportunities. It also includes large open spaces which can be used for performing arts, social activities and by community groups.

7. St Matthew’s RC High School, Manchester includes a three-storey glazed central atrium with a multi-use bleacher seating area and drama performance space. The design of the new building ensures there is a central ‘heart’ to the school which is made up of the main hall, dining and drama spaces with the teaching areas wrapping around these. The school also has an orchard and a sensory garden, with plans to develop a green area for use in teaching and to encourage wildlife. 

8. Sedgehill School, Lewisham is a specialist performing arts school for 1,750 students. The design of the new school includes an ‘agora-style’ open space which will be used by students and the local community for performances and social activities.

• 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 during the lifetime of the programme.

• Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery organisation 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. PfS is a 100-strong organisation, with specialist expertise including educationalists, designers, ICT specialists, commercial managers and project management.