A design for life: Sunderland's £100 million school designs unveiled
12/12/2007
The pioneering designs for six Sunderland schools have been unveiled at a Sunderland City Council-hosted event, marking the advent of 21st Century schools for the city.
School pupils, teachers, governors and other key stakeholders all attended the design showcase at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
Following months of school consultation the initial designs for £100 million worth of school buildings, part of Sunderland’s £120 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, are being finalised. The new schools will incorporate features most important to pupils, staff and governors including state-of-the-art facilities, flexible learning areas and sustainable design.
Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Bob Symonds, said: “It is exciting to see our BSF programme taking shape; the designs look amazing and have been very well received by all."
Cllr Symonds added: “We hope that these new 21st Century schools will not only raise aspirations and achievements within Sunderland but make school an enjoyable and safe environment for the city’s children and young people. To achieve this, investing in bricks and mortar is not enough; we must transform the way in which we deliver education so that lessons are tailored not prescriptive and expand far beyond the four walls of the classroom.”
Sunderland BSF will see Pennywell Secondary School and Quarry View Primary School close in August 2008 to make way for an all-age academy on the Pennywell site. The new academy is sponsored by Gentoo Group and co-sponsored by the City Council.
Castle View Secondary School and Hylton Red House School will close one year later, in August 2009, to re-open as two separate academies in September 2009. The academies are sponsored by Northumbrian Water and Leighton Group respectively, while Sunderland City Council co-sponsors both.
Meanwhile, Washington School will be rebuilt by September 2009 and Biddick School Sports College and St Robert of Newminster RC School will be refurbished by January 2010. All these schools, plus Sandhill View School, will also become part of a cutting edge ICT infrastructure delivered by the latest technology.
Planning permission for Washington School and the academies to replace Castle View School, Pennywell School and Quarry View Primary School has been submitted. Plans for the other three schools are expected to be submitted to the council next month.
Sustainability is at the heart of all six designs and solar water heating, biomass boilers and grey water systems, which use recycled rain water to flush toilets, will be commonplace in the new schools.
In order to reduce congestion and increase pupil safety, vehicles and pedestrians will be segregated, dedicated drop-off points will be introduced and CCTV will be installed throughout school premises. To help tackle bullying in isolated areas, an open-plan approach to corridor and stairway design has been adopted by each school.
In addition, Washington School will boast an eco-friendly sedum roof, made from moss and acting as natural insulation, which will be visible from Washington Highway. Castle View School’s academy will have a business and enterprise centre with debating facilities and will feature a copper facia, while the designs for Pennywell School and Quarry View Primary School’s academy include a state-of-the-art theatre, and all-weather sports pitch. All three will feature demonstration wind turbines and solar panels.
Gentoo Group Chief Executive, Peter Walls, said: “Gentoo is delighted that these fantastic plans are now being realised. We hope that this innovative new school building, alongside our major investment in the surrounding community, will benefit the whole area for many generations to come.”
John Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northumbrian Water, said: "The community, education and environment are at the heart of all Northumbrian Water does. It is very exciting that we can now begin to lay the foundations for innovative education for pupils of Castle View and help them to strive to be Sunderland's future entrepreneurs and business leaders."
Paul Callaghan, Chairman of the Leighton Group, added: “We are pleased to have reached this stage in the development of a new academy for the children of Hylton Red House School. The partnership approach, which has characterised the Sunderland Model, has meant that we are able to draw on the strengths of the City Council, private sector sponsors such as Northumbrian Water, Gentoo and ourselves. I look forward with great anticipation to the opening of the new academies in 2009.”
Once the contracts are finalised in March 2008, building work will begin. The first buildings will welcome pupils and staff in September 2009 with all wave one schools completed in January 2010.
For further information on Sunderland’s BSF programme visit www.sunderland-bsf.org.uk.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
BSF is the country’s largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years, the remit of BSF is to rebuild or renew every one of England’s 3,500 state secondary schools during its lifetime.
Sunderland is taking an innovative approach to BSF. Linking closely with other major initiatives, Sunderland plans to build three new ‘Sunderland Model’ academies as part of its wider BSF programme. Key principles of the Sunderland Model include:
• Admissions policies will be the same as for schools maintained by the council - there will be no selection
• Academies will be fully accessible to pupils with special educational needs and will support policies for increased inclusion in all mainstream schools
• All secondary schools, including academies, will work together on exclusion policies and practice to maintain the low levels of exclusion we have in Sunderland
• Academies will be a key part of the council's strategy for 14 to 19 learning, as set out in the 14 to 19 strategy for the city, ‘Building a Better Future’
• Academies will work in collaboration and partnership with the council, other schools and the City of Sunderland College
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Sunderland City Council’s BSF Communications Project Manager John Wiseman on 0191 553 2469 or email john.wiseman@sunderland.gov.uk or BSF Communications Officer Stephanie Cartwright on 0191 553 1467 or email stephanie.cartwright@sunderland.gov.uk