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1. What is Building Schools for the Future (BSF)?
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is part of the government’s national programme to transform education standards for secondary aged students. All secondary schools and special schools with secondary provision are expected to review their curriculum and organisation to help drive up standards. A key strand of the BSF programme is government funding to support capital investment into the rebuilding or refurbishment of all secondary schools and provision of new Information and Communications Technology systems in all schools over a 15-year period.
2. What is the Academies programme and how is it different from the BSF programme?
Building Schools for the Future and the Academies programme have the same overall aim to drive up standards of provision in secondary schools and both are government funded.
The Academies programme is mainly targeted at the schools with the lowest levels of achievement, often in areas of high deprivation, or schools identified by Ofsted inspections as requiring rapid improvement. Academies are schools with the involvement of a sponsor who has to contribute sponsorship up to a level of £2M into an endowment fund for the school.
Academy sponsors are able to appoint a majority of governors (like most Church schools) and Academies have freedom from some of the legislation which applies to all other state funded schools. Academies receive almost all their day to day funding directly from the central government rather than via the Council. Academy building programmes used to be managed separately outside the BSF arrangements but have now been brought under BSF building procurement arrangements.
3. Who are Partnerships for Schools?
The government department for education, now known as the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has set up a new organisation which will manage the BSF and Academies programme. Partnerships for Schools is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) set up to assist local authorities in the delivery of BSF and Academy projects, jointly managed by the DCSF and Partnerships UK.
4. Which schools in Westminster are BSF and which are Academies?
Three Academies have been established. These are:
Schools in the BSF programme are:
5. How much investment is available for Westminster Schools?
Around £227m of building and ICT funding is available for Westminster divided as follows:
Academies £75m
BSF £152m
Around £227m of building and ICT funding is available for Westminster divided as follows:
Academies £75m
BSF £152m
6. When will Westminster Schools be redeveloped?
The building and ICT programme is phased with Academies being completed first. If all the projects keep to time and budget, building work should finish as follows:
2009
King Solomon Academy
2010
Pimlico School
St. Marylebone School
Westminster City
2012
The Grey Coat Hospital
Quintin Kynaston
Beachcroft School
St. Augustine’s CE High School
St. George’s RC School
QEII Jubilee School
College Park School
7. Which company will be providing the building work and ICT for the BSF schools?
After an extensive tendering process Bouygues Partnership for Education and Community (BPEC) has been appointed. The BPEC company is a consortium made up of several companies:
Bouygues - UK part of the large French based Bouygues construction company
Ramesys - the ICT company Cambridge Education
Ecovert - a Bouygues Group subsidiary running facilities management contracts.
Financial Close was reached on 10 April 2008, at which point the BPEC consortium formally entered into a joint venture company with Westminster City Council - the Westminster Local Education Partnership (LEP).
8. Will the schools be disrupted during the building phase? How will the school protect the education of my child from building disruption?
All nine schools will have a major on site building programme lasting typically around 18-24 months. This is already in progress at St Marylebone and Westminster City Schools and Pimlico Academy. Inevitably there has been some noise and disruption. However, Westminster City Council is working closely with the LEP and site staff to ensure this is kept to a minimum. The intention is to undertake major demolition during school holiday periods.
All school building programmes will be managed to protect the delivery of the curriculum for all students. The current plans show that with careful phasing of new build and demolition, all classes requiring specialist facilities (e.g science labs) will continue to be taught in specialist accommodation. Some schools will use temporary mobile classrooms during part of the building phase.
Health and Safety standards have been set a very high level for this project. The high health and safety standards in BPEC's other building programmes, witnessed first hand by the Council and schools representatives, were a major factor in our selection process, and form a vital element of the programme as the plans unfold.
9. How do Westminster Schools plan to raise standards?
All BSF schools have discussed and adopted a new Education Vision for Westminster.
The Westminster vision has Six Ambitions:
Each school has planned their education improvement programmes & investment proposals in line with their BSF improvement vision around these six areas.
10. What are the plans for ICT investment in Westminster schools?
Westminster, Paddington and King Solomon Academies will have their own brand new ICT system which should be state of the art for ICT in schools.
The BSF schools will receive around £10.6M of investment in new infrastructure, cabling and servers and new computer equipment. A five year contract for managing the whole ICT service was signed with BPEC at Financial Close.
11. Where can I see the investment plans for Westminster Schools?
Follow the links below to see some of the proposals for each of the sample schools.
More information will be available about each school as the project moves forward.
Pimlico Academy
St. Marylebone School
Westminster City School
12. How can parents and students become involved in BSF proposals?
Since BPEC’s winning bid for the construction and ICT contracts, all schools have encouraged parents, students and local residents to see the current proposals and to contribute feedback.
13. When will the plans for BSF schools be considered by the Planning Committee? Can I comment on the proposed plans?
All proposals for refurbishment and rebuilding of the nine schools are presented to the Council’s Planning & City Development Committee for consideration and approval. Any resident, or other interested party, is entitled to view the plans and proposals and make comments on them before the Committee considers them. The Planning Committee are made aware of all comments received before it makes any planning decisions.
14. Will the BSF scheme allow extra facilities to be used by the wider community?
Yes – new sporting and community facilities will be available to the public, in line with our ambitions for “schools at the heart of their communities”. All schools have committed to share the facilities they have available with the local community, including sporting and performing arts facilities and ICT suites.
15. What happens if the Council or Government change politically - will the BSF scheme be scrapped?
Westminster is one of the early Councils chosen for the project ,we do not expect political changes to affect the agreed commitment to fund the Westminster BSF scheme, particularly now the contract has been signed.
16. Will the BSF school buildings and grounds be to an appropriate quality standard, provide sufficient space and protect green areas?
All BSF buildings will be required to meet government quality standards. A high premium is being placed on design quality, accessible facilities and environmental sustainability. The new Pimlico Academy, for example, will be energy efficient and built from environmentally friendly materials, reducing the school’s carbon footprint by over 40 per cent.
Last Updated: 20 Nov, 2008
2008 Westminster City Council. Contact the Council
