What is Building Schools
for the Future (BSF)
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the biggest single
Government investment in improving school buildings for over 50
years.
The aim is to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England
over a 10-15 year period. The funding is provided to councils
in waves.
What does it mean for Suffolk?
The Building Schools for the Future programme will mean around £750
million of investment for Suffolk's secondary schools, special
schools and PRU (Pupil Referral Units). Part of Ipswich and
Felixstowe have been chosen as the first areas in Suffolk to
benefit. Some £150 million will be used to rebuild or refurbish the
secondary and secondary age special schools and Pupil Referral
Units in these areas.
Building Schools for Future is about more than just buildings - BSF
is a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform the learning
experience of Suffolk children and young people to benefit their
futures. Our programme aspires to be ambitious and farsighted to
include:
- A broad range of high quality curriculum options
- State of the art ICT provision
- ‘Future proofed’ buildings and classrooms which can adapt to a
variety of usage
- Extensive community use.
A
map showing schools in Wave Six has been produced.
A
Wave six timeline has been produced to indicate expected
key dates.
Progress to date
Our Strategy for Change (Part 2) was submitted at the end of June
2009. We are now developing the Outline Business Case (OBC), with a
view to submitting this to Partnerships for Schools (PfS) in
mid-January 2010.
Once the OBC has been approved, we will be issuing the OJEU
(Official Journal of the European Union ) Notice at the earliest
opportunity to kick start the procurement of our wave six
programme.
In developing the OBC good progress is being made in terms of the
technical design development of the schemes, the development of the
vision and Output Specification for an ICT Managed Service and the
work to identify the level of Facilities Management aspects of the
programme.
We are currently holding a number of
public consultation events to gather the views of parents,
school staff and other local people on our proposals for
several of the Wave six schemes. Once we have taken on board these
comments, we will be submitting applications for planning
permission.