primary capital programme, pathfinder, rebuilding schools

The Primary Capital Programme

A £7bn programme will transform 8,000 primary and special schools over the next 15 years. Crispin Andrews looks at some of the innovative projects being planned in the pathfinder schools

This article was published in December 2007

Clapped out old terrapin huts, tiny school halls of little use to a class of 30 let alone a school of 400 and classrooms erected sometime between the Norman conquest and the accession of Queen Victoria. All these could soon be a thing of the past as run-down primary schools all over the country are set for a major facilities revamp.

Pathfinder projects to pilot the government’s new Primary Capital Programme are under way with plans currently being developed to transform aging primary schools in 23 local authorities across England into state-of-the-art learning environments. Schools minister Jim Knight says: ‘Most primary schools are reaching the end of their design lives – they are over 25 years old and some 60% were built between 1945 and 1976, often using rapid but poor-quality construction techniques. This is about moving from simply patching and mending these aging buildings to having a strategic, joined-up approach to planning and design.’

Twenty-three authorities have been selected. Each has been chosen because of its strategic vision and track record in delivering high-quality, innovative school buildings. Over 15 years, the £7bn programme aims to rebuild, revamp and remodel 8,000 out of England’s 18,000 primary and primary special schools – taking the 900 schools in the worst condition out of use.

Plans are in their early stages, but already some innovative designs are emerging. A new eco-friendly school looks set to be built at the heart of a new community on the site of Manchester City Football Club’s former Maine Road ground. Four hundred and fifty luxury homes will also be built next year in Moss Side as part of a regeneration project. It is expected that St Edward’s RC Primary, on the outskirts of Rusholme, and Bishop Bilsborrow RC Primary, in Moss Side, will merge and move to the new site, which could be ready in 2008.

Town hall officials are still in talks with the Diocese of Salford about the design for the school, but it is likely to have ‘intelligent’ windows that automatically open and close to regulate temperature and air flow, solar panels, wind turbines, and devices which can collect and recycle rain water. The Maine Road site is currently being decontaminated, with experts removing underground chemicals dating back to its days as a brickworks, before Manchester City’s 80-year tenure.

Schools at Wickford in Essex have agreed to trial an inter-age education centre as part of their Primary Capital Programme project. While part of the funding will go towards building the new centre very close to a site currently shared by Grange Primary, Castledon School for children with moderate learning difficulties, and Bromford Secondary School; each of these and other schools in Wickford are also putting together plans as to how essential modifications can be made to their own schools.

With rising numbers and a recent political shift in favour of retaining special schools for children with moderate learning difficulties, Carole Clift, headteacher at Castledon finds herself in desperate need of more space. ‘We hope to build a couple of new classrooms to replace the temporary buildings that have passed beyond their sell-by date and once these are built, to extend our car park space so that children bussed and taxied to and from school and those who travel by foot can arrive and depart safely and efficiently.’

Carole Clift also explains how local headteachers hope that the new inter-age learning centre will provide a further boost to the strong collaborative ethos already promoted by local schools. ‘Wickford is a very diverse area – we have pockets of affluence, deprivation and a large traveller population so collaboration between schools is important for social cohesion,’ she says. ‘The centre will be a place where students can come together for joint projects, somewhere parents’ groups and primary mental health services can be based and also a place where school staff can meet for training and networking sessions.’

‘It will be a good place for headteachers to meet too as most of us don’t have enough space for ourselves in our offices – let alone a meeting of five or six!’

With a sports centre, previously run by the local authority but now under the auspices of Bramford School, already on site – emphasis will be on developing a performing arts space, with some sort of aesthetically pleasing but also useable outdoor space. ‘Running outdoor gardens and even a small café would be ideal as a focus for our older pupils,’ says Carole Clift and the possibility of having some sort of central ICT facility on site is also being broached – with schools having to make a decision about the practicalities of using such a site or whether funding would be better spent upgrading capacity in their own schools. Louise Playford, Primary Capital Programme manager for Essex, said: ‘We are not going to simply rebuild schools as part of the pilot phase. By pooling resources, we can build a centre which all the schools can use. It is about more than having lessons elsewhere, the idea is that schools come and work together on activities that they would not normally do within their schools.’

Running alongside Building Schools for the Future – which aims to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England over a 10- to 15-year period – the government hope the Primary Capital Programme will help schools develop the capacity to deliver high-quality 21st-century learning. Schools at the heart of the community with children’s services in reach of every family, raising standards, Every Child Matters, inclusion, diversity and responsiveness, extended services, personalisation; all of these key policies and outcomes, it is envisaged, will be furthered by the facility enhancements that take place.

If schools are to provide excellent facilities for the next 60 years, designs for school buildings need to take account of likely future needs. Changes in curriculum will see more pupils focused on personalised learning programmes requiring flexible spaces capable of accommodating a range of groups from small areas for three to six pupils to rooms accommodating two or more classes of 30. Kitchen and dining facilities will need to support healthy eating, whereas more accessible ICT can be available when and where teachers, staff, pupils and parents need it. Children with a wide range of physical and learning difficulties will be present in mainstream schools, units and special schools. Buildings and ICT need to cater for their requirements and allow them access to any place and to any activity.

Divisions between school and community are blurring as schools open up to offer extended services throughout the year. The pattern of use will vary – most schools will open up spaces such as the school hall to the wider community after school hours, while others may offer some amenities for use during as well as after school. School buildings have a substantial environmental impact and new projects need to meet increasingly stringent government and other requirements for sustainability. ‘Green buildings’, it is believed, ‘can also be an important teaching resource.’

Stimulating environments
Headteachers from schools that have already undergone major surgery thanks to other pots of funding, are ready to wax lyrical about the positive benefits the changes have facilitated. Completely rebuilt after fire destroyed the previous building St Jerome’s Catholic Primary School in Formby, a suburban area of Merseyside, has already gone eco-friendly. Sustainable features include a sedum roof, a grey water system for flushing toilets, solar panels, photo-voltaic cells, a small wind turbine, under-floor heating, double glazing, natural through ventilation and south-facing orientation for maximum light. ‘It’s a wonderfully rich and inspiring teaching and learning environment. Everyone’s very proud and the children are becoming very aware of the environmental issues,’ says headteacher Liz Peat.

‘A large part of the development of Key Stage 1 children is physical, so we wanted a stimulating environment to encourage growth,’ adds Christine Dyer, headteacher at Gainsborough Primary School in Newham, which badly needed to improve facilities for pupils in the foundation stage. Of the child-centred design, with plenty of space and light and a free flow between inside and out, she says, ‘It’s absolutely wonderful – a great environment to work in and an exciting place for the children to develop imagination and creativity.’

Judy Worsley, headteacher at Lozells School in Birmingham has high hopes that involvement in the Primary Capital Programme will have similar benefits for her pupils. Plans are underway for Lozells, a local special and secondary school, to relocate to one campus and she hopes the new school will help smooth transition for children and become a focal point for the community. ‘We work within a very challenging area where there is a lot of gun- and gang-related crime,’ she says. ‘Having a new high-profile school that will also offer many community services will hopefully turn out to be a source of pride for local people – somewhere that they can identify with and be proud of.’

Crispin Andrews is a teacher and freelance writer

This article first appeared in Primary Headship - Dec 2007

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