Building Better Schools
The Changing Landscape: Schools, Academies, Free Schools and the Big Society

Brigid Cody from the British Council for School Environments (BCSE) talks to Nightingale Associates about the importance of good design in the changing education landscape.

Since the general election, the Education landscape has changed considerably. With the introduction of Free Schools and the ability for outstanding schools to become Academies there is new thinking around how education will be delivered. Alongside this the Government also seems to be committed to reforming planning and building regulations, this will include change of use to enable schools to be established in many different types of buildings.

To help realise the current free schools policy will take new thinking through the proposed new approaches to curriculum and teaching and learning. Those delivering these free schools will need to be ambitious but this must be coupled with practical common sense. The new 3 R's of refresh, refurbish and the reuse of our public buildings when budgets are tight should not diminish the need to think properly about creating decent spaces for teachers and learners.

Decent school environments do matter for teachers and young people. We must continue to focus on delivery not waste. We conducted a survey with the Teacher Support Network and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) earlier this year which showed that teachers overwhelmingly agreed (95.8%) that the school environment had an influence on pupil behaviour, with 52.1% believing that their surroundings had a negative effect.

We at the BCSE believe that no matter how the landscape changes we all must ensure that decent school environments are still at the forefront of the new education sector. There should be a decent school standard which should be applied to every school environment no matter how it is funded.

This means that we need to be thinking about buildings in a different way - they are a public asset. Re-using buildings rejuvenates our communities and promotes the environmental agenda. We must think about educational spaces and the quality of the places in which learning takes place.

Nightingale Associates were founding members of the British Council for School Environments. The practice has worked with us since our inception in 2006 to ensure that when thinking of school capital investment that the design of decent school environments is a priority.

As part of our annual conference :Building Better Schools, The Changing Landscape - Schools, Academies, Free Schools and the Big Society, we are exploring the way design, environments and education will work in the new landscape. This year it is hosted in partnership with Manchester City Council and will be bigger and better than ever before.

Day one of the conference includes four study tours of leading schools and inspiring learning environments in the Greater Manchester area and an unmissable evening drinks and networking reception at Manchester Town Hall.

Day two is the start of an inspiring day based uniquely within the Manchester Communications Academy. It includes an unparalleled line-up of top speakers from across the UK plus ten interactive workshops - sharing the latest thinking and setting the agenda for the year ahead for the sector.

Confirmed speakers so far include:

• Sir Bruce Liddington, Director General, EduTrust Academies Charitable Trust (E-ACT) & Trustee of The New Schools Network
• Toby Young, Journalist and Founder, West London Free School
• Dale Bassett, Research Director, Reform
• Jo Twist, Commissioning Editor for Education, Channel 4

The Building Better Schools conference is taking place from Tuesday 9 November until Wednesday 10 November 2010. To find out more please visit: buildingbetterschools.eventbrite.com

Building Schools for the Future project in Blackpool gets go-ahead

Nightingale’s scheme for St Mary’s Catholic College and Christ the King Catholic Primary school in Blackpool was given the go-ahead after a Government review of education capital expenditure commitments. More

Abstract

National Training
Award recognition
for eco-architect

Director of Design Research and Innovation, David Rowley has just won a National Training Award for the South East Region. More

Sports Speciality for Slough

The new NEET building for Wexham School in Slough has just been handed over. The LSC (Learning and Skills Council) funded building includes new art facilities, a digital media suite and dance studio. It is targeted at 16-18 year old NEET’s (people Not in Education, Employment or Training) to give them a chance to improve their education and career prospects through short-courses. Part of a larger new build and refurbishment project for the specialist sports school, it was designed in collaboration with staff and students to create spaces that enhance the learning environment.

Disclosed

Nightingale has designed over 120 education projects, many of which are new insertions within or alongside existing buildings

Events

As designers, we believe it is important to impart our experience to a wider audience. Our architects contribute to a number of symposiums and conferences all over the globe.

Health Estates Conference Manchester
Richard Mazuch, Director of Design Research and Innovation talked about ‘Re-thinking space – Innovative approaches for inpatient accommodation’ at the recent Health Estates Conference in Manchester. More

East-Asian Education
Mike Nightingale visited IBI Group offices in China, giving Nightingale’s the chance to introduce forward-thinking ideas like Nightingale THiNK to potential clients.

THiNK

Our international reputation for thought leadership is underpinned by a strong design research ethos supported by the work of Nightingale THiNK.

BedPod @ Imperial
Nightingale’s BedPod is about to be installed in Imperial College, London. Chairman of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial, Lord Darzi, was impressed by the prototype at the Design for Patient Dignity Exhibition. It will be housed in the Clinical Skills Centre where trainee doctors and researchers trial new equipment and techniques.

Academic research

Many Nightingale architects work directly with universities leading lectures, research and design projects. These include; Cambridge, Manchester, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Oxford Brookes, Huddersfield and Cape Town.

Nightingale are working with the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre as expert consultants on social design research that will effect lasting change and improve peoples’ quality of life.

Nightingale has written a brief for a mental health project for Architectural Technology students at Birmingham City University.

Mentoring
The Cardiff office is involved in the RSAW mentoring scheme for architecture students. Undergraduates from Cardiff University are assigned to a mentor who introduce them to the ‘real world’ of architecture, giving advice and work experience to advance their studies. The practice is also involved in a low carbon research project with the Welsh School of Architecture.

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