Report of the Deputy Director of Services to Children &
Young People to the meeting of the Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee to be held on 16
thNovember 2010
G
Subject:
Building Schools for the Future Status Report
Summary statement:
This report considers the current achievements of the Building Schools for the Future Programme, the issues arising from its implementation, the legal and contractual obligations for the authority and the implications of the Governments announcement of the stopping of the last phase of BSF for Bradford.
Cindy Peek
Deputy Director of Services to Children and Young People
Portfolio:
Children’s Services and Education
Report Contact: Barry Grayburn Phone: (01274) 437777
E-mail: barry.grayburn@bradford.gov.uk
1. Summary
This report considers the current achievements of the Building Schools for the Future Programme, the issues arising from its implementation, the legal and contractual obligations for the Authority and the implications of the Governments announcement of the stopping of the last phase of BSF for Bradford.
Through the BSF Programme there was an investment of over £500million in rebuilding, remodelling and refurbishing the Secondary School estate. On the 5th July 2010, the Government withdrew support for future BSF schemes, and the £240million capital investment. A review led by Sebastian James into Education Capital was announced at the same time and is due to report fully in December.
Bradford’s School Development Programme
The Local Authority (LA) was selected as a pathfinder for the BSF programme. This was for a number of reasons but was primarily due to the relatively low levels of attainment, poor state of the school estate and significant levels of deprivation, and the LA being willing to take up the opportunity to deliver the new programme.
Programme Timeline
• Integrated Bradford appointed as Local Education Partnership (LEP) in January 2006.
• Phase 1: 3 new secondary schools were completed in August 2008.
• Phase 2 (primary): 3 new primary special schools opened in April 2010. (funded by the Council but delivered through the Local Education Partnership)
• Phase 2 (secondary): 4 new secondary schools together with 3 new secondary special schools and an integral Hearing Impaired Unit are due to complete in Spring 2011.
• Withdrawal of funding from the Phase 3 BSF programme on 5th July 2010 means the programme cannot be completed and planned investment in the 19 stopped schools will not now go ahead under the BSF investment, and is subjective to the conclusion of the James Review.
School Estate Development
MAINSTREAM SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
Phase 1 Schools
Complete Phase 2 Schools
In Construction Stopped Schools Buttershaw Business &
Enterprise College
Beckfoot Belle Vue Boys’ School
Titus Salt School Grange Technology College Belle Vue Girls’ School Tong High School Greenhead High (University
Academy Keighley) Bingley Grammar School
Hanson Carlton Bolling College
Challenge College
Feversham College (ICT only) Ilkley Grammar School
Immanuel CE Community College (ICT only) Laisterdyke Business & Enterprise College Aire Valley (Formerly Nab Wood)
Oakbank School
Parkside School (ICT only) Queensbury School
St Bede’s Catholic Grammar St Josephs’ Catholic College The Holy Family Catholic School Thornton Grammar School Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College is due for closure under the Catholic School Re-organisation
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS SCHOOLS (SEN):
Phase 2 SEN Primary Special
Schools Complete Phase 2 SEN Secondary Special Schools In Construction
Stopped Schools
Phoenix Hazel Beck Communication & Interaction School (C&I)
Delius Southfield Emotional, Social & Behavioural Needs
School (ESB)
Chellow Beechcliffe
Hanson Hearing Impaired Unit
ACADEMIES:
Academies Complete In Design for Construction
reviewed and released 2010 Stopped Academies Bradford Academy Appleton Academy
Dixons Academy Dixons Allerton Academy
2. Background BSF PHASE 1
Aims, Success and Achievements
The main aim of Phase 1 was to significantly improve the fabric and facilities of the 3 schools and to enable improvement in educational attainment.
The three flagship schools - Titus Salt, Buttershaw and Tong - opened on time and on budget in September 2008 and were officially opened in May 2009.
Both Titus Salt School and Tong School were judged as two of the top six new secondary schools nationally by the Times Educational Supplement (TES), the only schools in the north of England to be nominated.
Issues
Phase 1 was a pathfinder programme for building and operating schools in a public/private sector partnership, and was the first time Educo, Integrated Bradford and the Authority had worked in partnership. The quality of the co-ordination and finishing in some areas was not acceptable and the schools were not as sufficiently complete at Service Commencement as they should have been.
Rectification in a live school environment is much more difficult and more costly than during the construction stage. It required overnight, weekend and holiday work. This needed careful programming so as not to impinge upon education. Notwithstanding this, the snagging and defect process has taken far too long.
The Authority now has a more appropriately skilled team to ensure contractual agreements are met. Commercially the LA now has a more rounded team and there is a clear focus on challenging defects to ensure satisfactory completion is achieved in a timely manner.
Greater clarity now exists regarding the contractor’s obligations on the defect and snagging process with a more robust stance being taken in order to resolve Phase 1 issues. It is anticipated that this approach will benefit other school building initiatives.
BSF PHASE 2 ACHIEVEMENTS Primary Schools
Merlin Top Primary School (formerly Guardhouse Primary School) opened in February 2010 on time. This was funded through the Primary Capital Programme but delivered through the LEP. The feedback from staff and children has been overwhelmingly positive.
Work is complete on all 3 special primary special schools, which opened on 26 April 2010.
These were funded by the Council and delivered through the LEP.
Secondary Schools
Work on 4 new mainstream secondary schools with 3 co-located secondary special schools and a Hearing Impaired Unit (HIU) are due to be complete in the spring of 2011.
Good progress is being made on the reorganisation of special schools in Bradford. Each new purpose-built school will cater for pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and will be co-located on the site of a mainstream school.
ISSUES
Primary Schools
Although schools opened on time the construction still took longer than was allowed under the programme. Snagging of works has taken longer than anticipated. Despite this the feedback from staff and children has been positive.
The LA has reviewed and improved processes to ensure the Independent Certifier, LA Clerk of Works and LEP staff operates more effectively to speed up the snagging process.
Secondary Schools
Frost damage to the slabs of the Schools occurred during December, delaying the construction programme and this has put the delivery of the new Schools under pressure.
Revised programmes have been provided by EduCo through the LEP which indicate varying but later dates for handover of the Campus sites. The implications of these dates on the transfer of schools into the 4 new campus site buildings are currently being worked through with the schools to ensure minimal impact on Education. The transfer of equipment, materials, staff and pupils will need to be carefully managed. The contract regarding revisions to programme dates, ICT installation, decant, delays, unitary charge payments and their compensation and compensation events are complex both legally and financially.
FF&E – problems with the affordability of the FF&E programme was experienced on the Phase 2 PFI scheme. Formal marketing testing of FF&E will need to be delivered by the LEP and colleagues in the future. Internal audit have reviewed the procurement of the FF&E from Best Value criteria and providing recommendations for future FFE.
BSF PHASE 3 (Awaiting outcome of James Review)
On July 5th 2010, 19 Schools scheduled to be rebuilt, remodelled, refurbished or receive ICT investment as part of Wave 6 of the Building Schools for the Future programme (Bradford’s Phase 3 BSF) were stopped. This amounted to over £350 million worth of funding of PFI credits. Bradford urgently needs capital investment both for its secondary schools and the completion of its re-organisation of the provision for pupils with special educational needs.
Rising Population
Unlike many other parts of the country, the District’s population is expanding rapidly. The population is projected to grow from 505,900 in 2008 to 649,400 in 2030. We are likely to have the fastest growing population of any major UK city, 29% of this growth will be children and young people.
Pupil Places
Over the last 4 years we have seen a steady increase in admission numbers in reception class
Table 1 Admission Numbers
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
6636 6755 6944 7322 7563
By 2018 an additional 3800 secondary school places will be required. Without capital investment to deliver extra places, the LA will not be able to meet its statutory obligations.
Special School Re-organisation
Bradford has almost completed a comprehensive programme for re-organising its Special Schools. The strategy involved closing down all old existing schools that were no longer fit for purpose and developing fewer, new, purpose designed and built SEN schools co- located with Mainstream schools. This would bring two schools together within one building or on one site to provide a range of facilities and opportunities for all students tailored to their specific needs and abilities.
The Local Authority funded the development of 3 new primary special schools which opened in 2010. Phase 2 will see the completion in 2011 of 3 secondary special schools which will be co-located on mainstream secondary sites. The strategy also included the development of two new specialised schools for students with behavioural and communication needs to meet the growing demand in this area. These 2 final schools were included in Phase 3 of BSF to complete the special schools re-organisation. Further capital investment is now required to do this.
Building Conditions
Much of the remaining secondary school estate identified within Phase 3 of the BSF programme is poor quality, with a maintenance backlog of over £23,000,000. Without capital investment, the LA will not be able to address this backlog. This amount will only make schools weatherproof and deal with the essential maintenance items; it does not
address inadequate teaching areas, restricted pupil flow areas or the need for additional places.
Suitability of Accommodation
In addition to the maintenance backlog, there is a need to address three schools with the provision of new buildings. Ilkley Grammar is an ageing, popular and successful school which is oversubscribed and needs to expand in order to meet parental demand. It cannot achieve this on its current site and needs to relocate. Land has been identified and planning processes were commenced to achieve this. Bingley Grammar is a second popular and successful school. Although there are no plans to expand this school as it meets current parental demand, the buildings are old, disjointed in development and the school relies upon 14 temporary classrooms to deliver its full curriculum. The third school is Aire Valley Secondary School previously known as Nab Wood which is housed in a light build construction. Such is the state of the current building; refurbishment is not possible;
it is a growing school, requiring new places to be provided.
Deprivation
Significant parts of the Bradford District cover the most deprived areas in the country, with two thirds of Bradford District’s residents (66.57%) living in the 20% most deprived wards in England and Wales. Investment in high quality Education and facilities is a fundamental part of the LA’s plan to address this. The LA has already invested heavily in its school estate, creating three new primary special schools as part of our overall re-organisation.
Educational Attainment
GCSE results and OFSTED inspections illustrate that attainment is improving in almost all Key Stages, but standards overall are still low compared to the national average.
Investment in schools is critical to improving this.
ICT Strategy
The LA completed 3 new schools in BSF Phase 1, will complete another 7 in March 2011 as part of Phase 2 and has completed the majority of its SEN Re-organisation. Without additional investment, the district is in danger of developing a two-tier education system with some pupils in new high quality accommodation with up-to-date ICT, and others in stock built in the 60s and 70s with a 25 year life span.
With further investment, the LA is ready to deliver;
• Partnership for Schools approved Bradford LA’s Outline Business Case for Phase 3 of BSF in March 2010 with no conditions, praising the quality of the vision and strategy for improvement.
• Detailed school and community consultation has taken place, and the LA is ready to proceed with work on these schools, with almost all of the agreements, plans and surveys already in place.
• There is a well established Local Education Partnership (LEP) and supply chain and, therefore, the LA is in a position to move quickly to implement the final elements of the Educational, School Estate, Special School/SEN and ICT strategies.
• The LA also has a team in place with all the necessary experience and expertise to develop and deliver capital schemes quickly and effectively.
Comprehensive Spending Review
In the Government announcement on 20th October it was stated that the decision to end the BSF programme would allow new capital to be focussed on meeting demographic pressures and addressing the maintenance needs.
The capital settlement release £15.8bn over the spending review period to maintain the schools estate. Although reduced by 60% over the spending review period, the decision to end BSF would allow new capital spending to be focussed on providing new places in areas of severe demographic pressure and addressing essential maintenance needs.
The detail of the funding allocation for each local authority has yet to be determined.
Partnership for Schools has not provided either a process/formula or a timescale for the allocation of Capital resource to the District. Similarly the James Review is open to make its announcement on Capital allocation.
Academy Programme
The Academy programme although slightly separate from BSF uses the same LEP procurement route. The future of the two Academies of Dixon Allerton and Appleton were uncertain following the Government announcement on the 5th July. However bid information provided by the sponsors supported by the Local Authority were successful and these projects are now proceeding through the development, planning and procurement stages prior to construction of the new buildings.
3. Other considerations Benefits are being realised
• Both Titus Salt School and Tong School were judged as two of the top six new secondary schools nationally by the Times Educational Supplement (TES), the only schools in the north of England to be nominated.
• All three schools in Phase 1 have increased levels of educational attainment including one school which has reported that GCSE results have trebled in the two years since re-opening in their new buildings.
• Schools report that the community is making good use of new facilities for example synthetic sports pitches which are permanently fully booked.
• There have been significant improvements in behaviour and a reduction in permanent and fixed term exclusions.
4. Financial and resource appraisal
The BSF Programme provided an opportunity for significant new investment in the school estate and to facilitate improvements in educational achievement and attainment.
The only way to access the funding was to procure a private sector partner (a LEP) with exclusivity to deliver capital investment for the District’s secondary estate and to enter into PFI (Private Finance Initiative) arrangements to provide construction capital and deliver Facility Management and ICT contracts for new schools.
Current Contractual Commitments
• The LEP contract runs for 10 years from 2006, and gives it exclusivity to deliver construction projects for secondary schools for this period.
• A Facilities Management contract with AMEY (FM) for all Phase 1 schools runs for 25 years, which began in 2008 and runs until 2033.
• An ICT contract with AMEY (ICT) for all Phase 1 schools runs for 5 years and expires in 2013.
• An ICT contract with AMEY (ICT) for all Phase 2 D and B primary special schools runs for 5 years and expires in 2015.
• The PFI contract for Phase 2 will commence in 2011 and runs until 2036.
• An ICT contract with AMEY (ICT) for all Phase 2 secondary schools will run for 5 years from 2011 and expires in 2016.
These are legally binding contracts and although it is possible to come out of them there are substantial penalties for doing so.
External Funding
Parkside and Challenge School Extension funding from Partnership for Schools
• initial quick-win projects :- £9,000,000 PFI Credits (total government grant);
• Phase 1 : £111,900,000
• Phase 2 : £236,131,000 Capital cost to build:
• Phase 1 : £79,892,000
• Phase 2 : £185,711,000 Financial Liabilities
• Partnership for Schools (PfS) expects all Local Authorities engaged in the BSF Programme to assume the risk in developing Schemes up until Financial Close, this included Phase 3.
• The project development costs of Phase 3 would have been recovered from the project if it had not been stopped.
• Current advice from both legal and finance departments confirms that all costs up to Final Business Case (FBC) are at the Authority’s risk and as such cannot be recouped from Partnership for Schools (PfS).
• Similarly, the Strategic Partnering Agreement (SPA) clearly states that should a project be terminated prior to FBC, all associated expenditures will be invoiced to the LA (Clause 6.2, schedule 3, SPA). As such, all risks to date will have been carried by the LA.
Future Funding
• On the 5th July 2010, the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, announced the complete closure of the Bradford Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Phase 3 programme as part of his department‘s spending review.
• At the same time the two Academies, Appleton and Dixons Allerton were appraised and were confirmed as receiving funding from DfE on 6th August 2010.
• The Government has set up a review led by Sebastian James to consider the schools capital programme; the interim findings were fed into the Comprehensive Spending Review announced on 20th October. The Authority provided the DfE with a completed “Call for Evidence” paper and this was submitted on 17th September together with separate supporting papers on Primary and Secondary Capital needs.
The outcome is not yet known.
5. Legal & Commercial appraisal
• BSF was pioneered by the previous government and it insisted on the new build projects being financed through PFI and D and B Schemes which added considerably to the legal complexities and as well as costing more over the life of the PFI.
• The BSF Programme has strong and legally binding Governance arrangements in place which flow from the main contract with the LEP, the Strategic Partnering Agreement (SPA).
• There is a high level Strategic Partnering Board (SPB), chaired by the Strategic Director for Children’s Services with wide membership, which is accountable for the BSF Programme.
• The LEP have their own Board structure and the Deputy Director for Children’s Services sits on this as the LA Representative.
• The LEP produce an annual report which monitors progress and delivery against Key Performance Indicators and Collective Partnership Targets, which is rigorously reviewed by the LA each year before acceptance.
• The legal structures created to procure the BSF programme included Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) in which the private sector partner was the majority shareholder, which were granted exclusive rights by Authorities in relation to schools projects with a capital value above a prescribed threshold over a ten year period. In Bradford the LEP have been granted exclusivity for all secondary school.
The procurement process leading up to the establishment of the LEP and the agreement of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the LEP and the Local Authority, including the design of the sample schools, was expensive and time consuming.
• The legal structures and finance models were developed and needed to be tested, refined and developed over a period of time. There was limited flexibility to amend the standard form documentation and Authorities had to work within the baselines, guidelines and procedures that were put in place for BSF. To a large degree the Authorities set out on uncharted waters, the scale, complexity and value of the PFI schemes was hugely challenging but at the same time immensely attractive and at the time was the only medium through which large scale rebuilding and remodelling of the secondary schools estate could be delivered through a public and private sector partnership.
• To give a flavour of the legal complexities the bible of contractual documents would typically stretch to beyond 80 legal documents, which spanned Banking Agreements, Company Guarantees, Building Contracts, Loan Agreements, Letters of Credit, Facilities Management Agreements, Interface Agreements, ICT Services Agreements, Shareholder Agreements, and Management Service Agreements etc.
The sheer volume of documents, investors and stakeholders to manage requires a high degree of servicing through specialist legal, financial, commercial, contractual,
project management, programme management and governance resources. The BSF Programme has been a steep learning curve for Authorities and Schools and many lessons have been learned, working with the private sectors requires a high degree of commercial expertise and sector specific experience.
• The experiences of Phase 1 and 2 developed the skills of the team over time. The quality of the OBC submission for Phase 3 was acknowledged by PFS and this was a testament to the knowledge, skills and expertise that the Authority developed during its involvement with BSF.
• Post contractual execution has presented challenges in delivering to quality, time and budget. The Authority recognised the need for construction industry expertise and secured legal, commercial, finance and contractual resources to manage the delivery of the programme. Through this depth of expertise the Authority has become better placed to enforce the contract and to challenge the LEP on its contractual obligations and those of its Supply Chain Partners.
6. Other implications 6.1 Equal Rights
Promotion of Equal Opportunities
• Bradford has already benefited from 2 phases of BSF and academy investment where all participating schools have been entirely rebuilt. The BSF Phase 3 project was targeting the remaining secondary school estate. The LA is now faced with a potential “2-tier secondary school education”: schools that have received large capital and ICT investment and those that haven’t and instead have a large maintenance backlog.
• Comparatively speaking, local pupils affected by the DfE’s decision have a greater chance of being characterised as having special needs (28% locally compared to 24% across the country). This figure is 33% higher than the national maintained mainstream secondary school average (21%).
• The DfE’s decision to halt BSF may impact on social exclusion and poverty.
Compared to the national trend, pupils in receipt of a Free School Meal (FSM) constitute a greater proportion of those pupils affected by the DfE’s decision to stop BSF overall. The average of FSM students across all mainstream secondary schools nationally is over 50% less than the proportion of FSM pupils in the BSF Phase 3 schools (21% locally compared to 13% across the country).
• The proportion of minority ethnic pupils in the stopped BSF Phase 3 schools in Bradford is far greater than in the rest of the “stopped BSF” schools and/or compared to the overall proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils across all secondary schools. The average of BME students across all mainstream secondary schools is 160% less than the proportion of BME students in the BSF Phase 3 schools (47% locally compared with 18% nationally)
6.2 Sustainability implications
• Schools have a role to play in improving the environment and are currently responsible for 60% of the LA CO2 emission. BSF had secured £2million to reduce the level of CO2 emission from the schools engaged in this programme. Such CO2 reduction will no longer be achievable as the most dilapidated buildings will remain and reduction will not be possible. Additionally, Education is the key to changing our
attitude towards sustainability. Young people would have learnt from a sustainable building – this is no longer feasible. Finally, not all our schools can be used by local communities outside/during school hours because of the state of existing accommodation or simply because of the security and safety implications. This would have been addressed through BSF where investment would have supported a wider range of community use.
6.3 Community safety implications
• The BSF programme delivers against a number of LA outcomes and National Indicators (NIs) and contributes to the Corporate Plan “Citizen First” with its underlying priorities, particularly Safer and Stronger communities: Improving quality of life in the most deprived neighbourhoods is key to tackling poverty.
• Within these neighbourhoods, again, schools are too often the only public sector representation with which local communities easily relate to and interact. Without the BSF programme, investment in such areas will be drastically reduced with no opportunities for the LA to find any alternatives.
7. Not for publication documents None
8. Recommendations
Members are asked to note the following:-
• The progress that has been made on the current and previous Phases of BSF and the benefits that have been realised
• The complexity of the current contracts for the PFI schools with the private sector partner
• The impact of and the implications of the stopping of the last phase of BSF
• The work that has commenced in presenting the government with the case for capital investment in Bradford schools
9. Appendices
9.1 Primary Capital – A Case for investing in the Primary Schools
9.2 Secondary Capital – A Case for investing in the Secondary Schools and Special Schools
BACKGROUND
Rising Population
• The District’s population is expanding. Our population is projected to grow from 505,900 in 2008 to 649,400 in 2030. We are likely to have the fastest growing population of any major UK city, 29% of this growth will be children and young people.
• Of those, almost 34% are from Black and Ethnic backgrounds, the most significant groups being of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage.
• Over the last 5 years we have seen a steady increase in admission numbers into reception year – 6444 admitted in 2005, 6636 in 2006, 6755 in 2007, 6944 in 2008 and 7322 in 2009.
• For September intake 2010 we have allocated 7563 places.
• Based on birth data provided to the Local Authority by the Health Authority the number of reception places required is forecast to rise further.
School Places
• The total number of permanent admission places in Reception year is currently 7031.
• The increase in demand for Reception year places has not been evenly distributed across the District but concentrated in specific geographical areas, particularly the inner-city, its immediate surrounding areas and Keighley which will experience the greatest pressure where population density has increased significantly
• For September 2009 448 temporary additional places were created through ‘bulge classes’, many of these accommodated in additional temporary buildings. For 2010 these places were used to accommodate the same children when they moved into year 1 and were therefore not available for reception children.
• For September 2010 710 permanent additional places have been created, some in temporary buildings initially pending construction of permanent accommodation. These will therefore be available for reception children in 2011.
• This will however only provide 2% of surplus places, well below the 5% surplus places advised by the DfE in order introduce flexibility to meet parental expressed preferences
• By September 2011 a further 90 permanent additional Reception year places will be created accommodated in permanent buildings. In addition, 710 permanent year 1 places will be created to accommodate the children admitted into reception year in 2010 when they move to year 1.
• Over the following 5 year period in order to remedy the shortfall in places the District needs to have increased permanent capacity by 800 in each year group from Year 2 to Year 6 to
accommodate the children as they progress through the primary sector, a total of a further 4000 places across the Primary School estate, as a minimum.
• Without further capital investment to deliver extra places, the Council will not be able to meet its statutory obligations by 2012.
• The number of appeals against allocated school places in Bradford is already the highest in the country. Anticipated increases in the primary school-age population will have a negative impact on the schools’ ability to meet parental preferences and further increase the number of appeals lodged.
Condition and suitability
• The District has a mixture of primary school buildings, from late Victorian to the present day. The Reorganisation completed in 2000, resulted in 39 primary schools taking over existing middle school buildings, many of which whilst newer buildings, are not truly suitable at the moment for primary education.
• The Authority did seek to retain the better first and middle school buildings for primary use.
However, the focus then was primarily to provide additional accommodation needed for the change in age range at the retained sites, rather than to address the condition and suitability of
£32,000,000, urgent work we consider should be carried out within the next 2 years in order to make schools weatherproof and to avoid further deterioration. This will however not address inadequate teaching areas, restricted pupil flow areas or the need for additional places. In addition there are significant longer term condition issues which need to be addressed. Without capital investment, the Council will not be able to address this backlog.
• In addition to the maintenance backlog, there is a need to address the provision of new buildings.
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Primary School Capital Investment
Bradford District is one of the most deprived areas in the country, with two thirds of Bradford District’s residents (66.57%) living in the 20% most deprived wards in England and Wales. Investment in high quality Education and facilities is a fundamental part of the Council’s plan to address this. The Council has already invested heavily in its school estate.
Since 2000, 11 new schools have been built or are currently under construction whilst a further 4 have undergone major refurbishments affecting more than 50% of the floor area. More recently the main approach to capital investment in Primary schools has occurred in schools identified through the PCP process. Capital allocated through the PCP has been pooled with a range of other available capital funding streams to deliver whole school solutions to identified issues. This helped to maximise the impact of investment and to deliver better value for money.
Primary Capital Programme
The Local Authority (LA) was selected as a pathfinder for the PCP and was formally entered into the Programme following unconditional approval of the Primary Strategy for Change document.
Primary schools were identified following a full review of the condition and suitability status of all school buildings. Seven schools had backlog maintenance programmes in excess of £0.5m and a further 22 between £0.3m and £0.5m.
In terms of condition and suitability issues, the Local Authority was of the view that 58 schools should be retained and refurbished through the PCP programme linked to other sources of funding and that 32 schools, including special schools catering for primary aged children, should be rebuilt or taken out of use.
The identified approach to the issues was to carry out refurbishments, deal with major condition issues and, in some cases, build small extensions, during the first 2 years of the Programme. These covered the identified shortfalls in accommodation, in particular the number of halls, the size of classrooms, the condition and suitability of kitchens and the size of staff accommodation, using BB99 as a guide. We also sought to provide greater opportunities for learning through the most up to date ICT, personalised learning, extended schools provision and, where particularly appropriate, create children’s centres and incorporate youth and community facilities. Further priorities and identified issues were to be delivered in following years of the PCP.
Year 1 PCP - Pathfinder projects - 2008/09
• The rebuilding of Guard House Primary School and co-locating the school on the same site with the new Phoenix Primary Special School.
• Remodelling and refurbishment work at Bradford Moor Primary School and Lapage Primary School to enable both schools to co-locate with the new Delius Primary Special School.
• Work at Heaton Primary School to enable the school to co-locate with the new Chellow Heights Primary Special School.
• Building an extension to Swain House Primary School in order that the school can act as the co- location host for a new Centre of Excellence for deaf and hearing impaired pupils.
These projects supported the local restructure of Special Needs Education in the context of a whole campus vision of inclusion.
Year 2 PCP - Remodelling and refurbishing - 2009/10
extended school provision. We also improved ICT facilities both in classrooms and in specialist ICT rooms. In addition we also dealt with the major repairs and maintenance issues such as replacement roofs, windows, cladding, boilers and wiring. The schools involved were:-
Allerton Primary
Pupil numbers in the area were growing and work incorporated an increase in the size of the school from 1.5 FE to 2 FE, by providing an additional classroom, a larger ICT room, a larger library, more toilets in Key Stage 2, a larger staffroom and two small group rooms, using BB99 as a guide. We also improved the school entrance, carried out accessibility work and provided some existing classrooms with direct access to the outside play area. The works involved extending the building and internal adaptations.
The school is popular and successful and is more able to meet parental demands for places.
Burley Oaks Primary
Numbers in this area were growing and it had already been necessary to increase the accommodation by one temporary classroom. This had stabilised, but it was expected that pupil numbers would grow further, in the future. Work created additional hall/extended provision space and created larger
classrooms, as well as improving staffroom and kitchen provision. It also incorporated specific Children’s Centre/ Extended School provision and removed temporary accommodation. The work was a mixture of internal adaptations and an extension.
Copthorne Primary:-
Work created additional hall/extended provision space, larger classrooms and increased staffroom provision. The work involved building an extension and a mezzanine floor within the existing building.
Cottingley Village Primary
Work reconfigured the entrance and administration area to improve security and access for parents, reconfigured and enlarged the staffroom, increased the size of some classrooms, by building a small extension, removed toilets from classroom areas into new areas and improved extended school
provision. There was also work to refurbish the kitchen. The works involved the building of an extension and substantial internal adaptations.
Home Farm Primary
Work provided additional hall/extended provision space, refurbished the kitchen and dining area, increased the size of some classrooms and improved teaching areas through greater soundproofing.
The works involved the building of an extension and internal adaptations.
Horton Park Primary
Work provided additional hall/extended provision space, relocated ICT provision, provided one new additional classroom and a refurbishment of the kitchen. The work involved the building of an extension and some internal adaptations.
St Wine ride’s RC Primary
Work provided additional hall/extended provision space, provided additional staffroom and ICT space and refurbished the kitchen. The works involved the building of an extension and internal adaptations.
Year 3 PCP - Remodelling and refurbishing - 2010/11
As in the previous year, all schemes increased the amount of flexible space available for a variety of purposes including more personalised learning and extended schools provision, as well as improving ICT provision and dealing with major condition issues. The schools involved were:-
Lapage Primary
Increase the size of a number of undersized classrooms and increase the size of the staffroom, involving internal adaptations and an extension.
Lower Fields Primary
Provide larger classrooms and a larger staffroom through substantial internal adaptations and an extension.
Shirley Manor Primary
Provide additional hall/extended provision space and increase the size of the staffroom, involving internal adaptations and an extension.
Springwood Primary
Provide extended provision space, internal adaptations to increase size of classrooms and increase the size of the staffroom through internal adaptations.
St Clare’s Catholic Primary
Provide additional hall/extended provision space and increase the size of the staffroom, involving building of an extension and internal adaptations.
St Oswald’s CE Primary
Reconfigure internal space to provide more effective teaching and learning areas and increase the size of 4 classrooms and provide larger staffroom accommodation. This involves a small extension and internal adaptations.
Worth Valley Primary
Remodel teaching and learning areas, increase the size of the staffroom and refurbish the kitchen through internal adaptations and an extension.
Primary School Expansion Programme
As a consequence of the rapid increase in the birth rate over the last few years coupled with an increasing number of migrants settling in the District, the Local Authority was faced with a shortage of Reception year places for September 2009 intake. This was not evenly distributed across the District and was particular acute in the inner city and surrounding areas. This was primarily addressed through the introduction of ‘bulge classes’ in a number of schools across the District. 10 of these schools required temporary buildings in order to accommodate the additional numbers, with the rest of the schools managing the numbers within their existing buildings.
For 2010 and 2011 intakes a number of schools have been identified where additional permanent accommodation or remodelling of existing buildings could be utilised to accommodate the rising numbers. For these schools feasibility studies have been undertaken to identify possible solutions to deliver the additional accommodation required for 2011. Where possible, this has involved internal remodelling and minor refurbishment of existing buildings to accommodate the numbers for 2009, but in some cases has necessitated the use of temporary buildings until the permanent solutions are in place.
Schools where increases have been made are as follows:
Primary School 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Cavendish Primary 15 (bulge) 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN Fagley Primary 10 (bulge) 10 above PAN 10 increase PAN
Thackley Primary 0 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN
Peel Park Primary 30 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Westminster Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Killinghall Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
All Saints’ CE Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Bradford Academy (to all through) 0 60 PAN 60
Appleton Academy (to all through) 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Woodside Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Brackenhill Primary 30 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Southmere Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Ryecroft Primary 0 0 30 increase PAN
Carrwood Primary 15 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN Knowleswood Primary 15 (bulge) 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN
Newhall Park Primary 0 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN
Thornton Primary 30 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN St James’ Church Primary 15 (bulge) 15 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Ley Top Primary 15 (bulge) 0 15 increase PAN
IQRA Primary 30 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Margaret McMillan Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN Crossley Hall Primary 15 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Princeville Primary 0 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN
Long Lee Primary 0 0 30 increase PAN
Riddlesden St Marys CE Primary VA 0 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN Burley Oaks Primary 7 (bulge) 15 (bulge) 15 (bulge) High Crags Primary 15 (bulge) 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN
Hoyle Court Primary 0 0 15 increase PAN
Crossflatts Primary 15 (bulge) 15 above PAN 15 increase PAN Trinity All Saints CE Primary VA 30 (bulge) 30 above PAN 30 increase PAN St Josephs Catholic Primary VA 20 (bulge) 10 above PAN 10 increase PAN
Horton Park Primary 30 (bulge) 0 0
Lilycroft Primary 30 (bulge) 0 0
St Matthews CE Primary 30 (bulge) 0 0
Foxhill Primary 3 (bulge) 0 0
Heaton Primary 5 (bulge) 0 0
St Josephs Catholic (Bingley) 5 (bulge) 0 0
St Matthews Catholic Primary 5 (bulge) 0 0
TOTAL 448 710 800
SUMMARY
Bradford urgently needs capital investment for its primary schools
• Bradford District is one of the most deprived areas in the country, with two thirds of Bradford District’s residents (66.57%) living in the 20% most deprived wards in England and Wales.
Investment in high quality Education and facilities is a fundamental part of the Council’s plan to address this.
• Due to a rapidly rising pupil population driven by an increased birth rate and net inward migration, there are currently insufficient Primary School places to accommodate future demand for children requiring a primary school place from 2012 onwards
• Based on data provided by the Health Authority a total of an additional 4000 Primary School places are required over the next 5 years as a minimum
• Much of the primary school estate remains as poor quality with a maintenance backlog of over
£32,000,000
• The District is in need of urgent further capital investment, for both additional places in order to meet its statutory obligations and to address the extensive condition and suitability issues
• The Council has already invested heavily in its school estate, has a proven track record of delivering large school capital schemes and is in a position to move quickly to implement the necessary investment
A Case for Investing in Secondary Schools and Special Schools Across Bradford District
On July 5th 2010, 19 Schools scheduled to be rebuilt, remodelled, refurbished or receive ICT investment as part of Wave 6 of the Building Schools for the Future programme (Bradford’s Phase 3 BSF) were stopped. This amounted to over £350 million worth of investment.
Bradford urgently needs capital investment both for its secondary schools and the completion of its re-organisation of its provision for pupils with special educational needs:
Unlike many other parts of the country, the District’s population is expanding rapidly.
The population is projected to grow from 505,900 in 2008 to 649,400 in 2030. We are likely to have the fastest growing population of any major UK city, 29% of this growth will be children and young people. Over the last 4 years we have seen a steady increase in admission numbers in reception class - 2006 admitted 6636; 2007 admitted 6755; 2008 admitted 6944; 2009 admitted 7322; and in 2010 allocated 7563. By 2018 an additional 3800 secondary school places will be required. Without capital investment to deliver extra places, the Council will not be able to meet its statutory obligations.
Bradford has almost completed a comprehensive programme for re-organising its Special Schools. BSF Wave 3 (Phase 2) centred on refocusing provision for those pupils requiring specialist support. The strategy includes replacing 11 old independent schools that will no longer be fit for purpose with 3 new primaries and 3 new secondary specialist schools that are co-located on mainstream sites. The Local Authority has funded the newly opened primary school and the 3 secondaries are currently nearing completion as part of Phase 2. Two more schools need to be developed to complete this re-organisation. These are for a Communication and Interaction Special School and an Emotional, Social, Behavioural Needs Special School. These 2 final schools were included in Phase 3 of BSF to complete the special schools re-organisation. Capital investment is required to do this.
Much of the secondary school estate within the Phase 3 BSF programme remains as poor quality with a maintenance backlog of over £23,000,000. Without capital investment, the Council will not be able to address this backlog. This amount will only make schools weatherproof; it does not address inadequate teaching areas, restricted pupil flow areas or the need for additional places.
In addition to the maintenance backlog, there is a need to address three schools with the provision of new buildings. Ilkley Grammar is an ageing, popular and successful school which is oversubscribed and needs to expand in order to meet parental demand. It cannot achieve this on its current site and needs to relocate. Land has been identified and planning processes were commenced to achieve this. Bingley Grammar is a second popular and successful school. Although there are no plans to expand this school as it meets current parental demand, the buildings are old, disjointed in development and the school relies upon 14 temporary classrooms to deliver its full curriculum. The third school is Aire Valley Secondary School previously known as Nab Wood which is housed in a light build construction. Such is the state of the current building; refurbishment is not possible; it is a growing school, requiring new places to be provided. Replacing these three schools was a priority for BSF Phase 3.
wards in England and Wales. Investment in high quality Education and facilities is a fundamental part of the Council’s plan to address this. The Council has already invested heavily in its school estate, creating three new primary special schools as part of our overall re-organisation.
GCSE results and OFSTED inspections illustrate that attainment is improving in almost all Key Stages, but standards overall are still low compared to the national average.
Investment in schools is critical to improving this.
The Council completed 3 schools on time as a pathfinder for BSF, completed 3 new builds in BSF Phase 1, will complete another 7 in March 2011 as part of Phase 2 and has completed the majority of its SEN Re-organisation. Without additional investment, the district is in danger of developing a two-tier education system with some pupils in new high quality accommodation with up-to-date ICT, and others in stock built in the 60s and 70s with 25 year life spans
With further investment, the Council is ready to deliver.
Partnership for Schools approved Bradford Council’s Outline Business Case for Phase 3 of BSF in March 2010 with no conditions, praising the quality of the vision and strategy for improvement.
Detailed school and community consultation has taken place, and the Council is ready to proceed with work on these schools, with almost all of the agreements, plans and
surveys already in place.
There is a well established Local Education Partnership (LEP) and supply chain and, therefore, in a position to move quickly to implement the final elements of the
Educational, School Estate, Special School/SEN and ICT strategies.
Bradford’s School Development Programme
The Local Authority (LA) was selected as a pathfinder for the BSF programme. This was primarily due to the relatively low levels of attainment, poor state of the school estate and significant levels of deprivation, and the LA was willing to take up the opportunity to deliver the new programme.
Programme Timeline
• Phase 1: 3 new secondary schools were completed in August 2008
• Phase 2 (primary): 3 new primary special schools opened in April 2010.
• Phase 2 (secondary): 4 new secondary schools together with 3 new secondary special schools are due to complete in March 2011.
• Withdrawal of funding from the Phase 3 BSF programme means the programme cannot be completed and planned investment in the 19 stopped schools will not now go ahead.
School Estate Development
MAINSTREAM SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
Phase 1 Schools Complete Phase 2 Schools In Construction
Stopped Schools
Buttershaw Business &
Enterprise College
Beckfoot Belle Vue Boys’ School
Titus Salt School Grange Technology College Belle Vue Girls’ School Tong High School Greenhead High (University
Academy Keighley)
Bingley Grammar School
Hanson Carlton Bolling College
Challenge College Feversham College Ilkley Grammar School
Immanuel CE Community College
Laisterdyke Business & Enterprise College Aire Valley (Formerly Nab Wood)
Oakbank School Parkside School Queensbury School
St Bede’s Catholic Grammar St Josephs’ Catholic College The Holy Family Catholic School Thornton Grammar School Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College is due for closure under the Catholic School Re-organisation SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS SCHOOLS (SEN):
Phase 2 SEN Primary Special Schools Complete
Phase 2 SEN Secondary Special Schools In Construction
Stopped Schools
Phoenix Hazel Beck Communication & Interaction School (C&I)
Delius Southfield Emotional, Social & Behavioural Needs
School (ESB)
Chellow Beechcliffe
Hanson Hearing Impaired Unit ACADEMIES:
Academies Complete In Design for Construction – reviewed and released 2010
Stopped Academies Bradford Academy Appleton Academy
Dixons Academy Dixons Allerton Academy
Phase 1
• Three new secondary schools were constructed at Titus Salt, Tong High School and Buttershaw BEC, which were opened on schedule in August 2008.
Phase 2
• Under Phase 2 the LA has provided and funded three new primary special schools at Chellow, Delius and Phoenix, together with a new primary mainstream school, Merlin Top. All opened on time in April 2010.
The LA will also provide four new, fit-for-purpose secondary mainstream schools co-located with three new secondary special schools and a hearing impaired unit.
• Phase 2 secondary building is well advanced and development has reached the final stages of construction with an anticipated completion of all schools in the first quarter of 2011.
Stopped Schools
• There are 19 existing schools which have not benefited from recent investment and will not currently benefit from the new District-wide ICT platform developed.
Special Schools
• The main primary school element of the special schools re-organisation is now complete.
• Three new co-located secondary special schools are in the final stages of construction.
• However the final two special schools planned cannot now go ahead as a result of the withdrawal of BSF funding.
• As a part of the special schools re-organisation strategy in 2003 it has always been the intention to deliver Communication and Interaction in a dedicated school to serve the Bradford district rather than across more than one school.
• In addition there is a need to adequately provide specialist teaching for the pupils with Behavioural Educational and Social needs and a purpose built new school is therefore required. This was highlighted as a serious deficiency in the most recent Ofsted Inspection.
ICT
• The new District-wide ICT solution has now been installed in the Phase 1 secondary schools and the primary special schools.
• The new platform will be installed in all new Phase 2 schools including the secondary mainstream and special.
• The two new Academies being planned will also benefit from the new platform developed for the rest of the District’s secondary schools.
• The stopped 19 schools will not now have access to the new District-wide ICT solution developed.
Academies
• Capital funding has now been granted for the two planned Academies; Appleton and Dixons Allerton. A further Academy (totalling five in the district) is being built under Phase 2 BSF (PFI) and is due to open as an Academy in September 2010 – the University Academy Keighley.
Educational Improvement
A number of improvements have taken place to develop teaching and learning across the district to complement the planned new facilities and ICT infrastructure:
• Curriculum Leader training to deliver diploma courses.
• Identification and training of other adults from the community to act as mentors and tutors.
• Increased use of learning mentors for 1:1 guidance.
• Increased use of non-education professionals to support the Every Child Matters agenda.
• Embedding Assessment for Learning so as to enable personalised, independent learning.
• Whole staff training to improve the emotional element of the learning environment.
• Develop personal, learning and thinking skills for independent and collaborative learning.
• Development of Accelerated Learning and other models.
• Ensuring effective learning through the use of 1:1 computing access and develop independent learning by getting the best from Learning Resources and new Virtual Learning Environments.
Strategy Framework
• The District has a well developed strategic framework, which includes the Education Strategy, School Estates Strategy, ICT and SEN strategies.
• The BSF funding programme was the driver and delivery agent for many of the changes needed in the district and aimed to deliver against the following high level objectives:
Demand for School Places
• To create new school places to meet the forecast rise in student numbers by providing 3 new schools and remodel 14 existing schools to meet local demand for places particularly around the city centre where land is unavailable for new schools.
Special Educational Need
• Restructure Special Education by closing down all existing schools and reorganising into fewer, new, purpose designed and built SEN schools co-located with Mainstream schools.
• The concept behind co-location of the special and mainstream schools on campus is to bring two schools together within one building or on one site to provide a range of facilities and
opportunities for all students and tailored to their specific needs and abilities.
• Develop two new specialised schools for students with behavioural and communication needs to meet the growing demand in this area.
Designed for Teaching and Learning
• Design a variety of spaces for learning including spaces which can be individually and informally accessed.
• Classrooms which are large, well proportioned and some designed with removable walls for flexibility.
• Breakout spaces incorporated to assist with personalised and small-group teaching and learning.
• Flexible room spaces provided in a number of locations to allow group teaching.
• Design to be flexible and support future proofing in order to ensure that the investment made in these facilities will be adaptable and support lasting change.
ICT
• Create a common district-wide ICT environment that enables the delivery of a more personalised model of learning and service delivery, to meet the needs of all learners and ensure better outcomes for all young people.
• Create opportunities for flexible and personalised learning, including the development of Managed and Virtual Learning Environments.
• Exploit the potential of new technologies to transform both formal and informal learning across the District, within each school and across the wider community.
Overall Delivery Objectives
• Improve learning environments and achievement prioritising schools with greatest educational need.
• Meet place planning requirements.
• Complete special school re-organisation.
• Enhance school diversity and parental choice.
• Seize opportunities through new technologies.
• Create places for learning that are exciting, flexible, healthy, safe and secure.
• Address flexible and personalised learning.
• Increase the use of schools by the community.
• Use new thinking to be creative in designing for learning.
• Increase employment and training opportunities.
• Regeneration of the district.
• Improve Environmental Sustainability.
