Monday’s passing of the Academies Bill in parliament heralded a radical change in the landscape of education in a way not seen for 20 years. As a flagship coalition policy, Academies and Free schools will aim to shift and outperform the old way of delivering education.
There are also a number of new elements in this changing schools system that require different solutions: new providers – from the UK and abroad who will run and manage schools; new teachers – in the form of the recent graduates of the TeachFirst programme and experienced leaders looking for new challenges; new roles and responsibilities – for parents, teachers and charitable groups running Free Schools; and new systems – with less local authority control, fewer restrictions on curriculum and direct accountability to the Minister.In this changing climate, it is vital that the lessons of the past 20 years of education policy, thinking about schools and their communities and designing school environments are not forgotten when delivering these schools. To achieve this, Academy providers, Free school groups and other organisations in the sector need impartial and independent advice from a trusted source.
That is why we are launching a new Academies and Free Schools Advisory Service to help support free schools groups, academy sponsors and providers, local authorities and the public and private sector. Key areas of the service include:
- Design Review and Building advice
- Best practice visits and study tours in the UK and abroad
- Strategic review and policy development
- Student, staff and community engagement
- Future policy scanning and research
- Post occupancy evaluation and lessons learned reports
- Capital Leadership Development programme
We have established ourselves as the leading voice and national experts on school design and construction and linking the built environment with school improvement. The AFA service will allow us to continue to develop policy, services and resources for this vitally important area of public policy.
Next generation schools – whether academies or free schools – must have high impact for teachers and pupils. Value for money should encourage commonsense in the design and delivery of schools and ensure such necessities as good light, acoustics and decent furniture. Lower costs should not mean poorer thinking about the nation’s schools.
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I fully support this initiative from BCSE, one of the leading educational support organisations in the UK today. I particularly find it exciting as it will enable the extensive knowledge acquired by its members and coordinators to provide valuable support directly to schools seeking advice over the coming uncertain year.