How will BSF improve learning environments in specific and practical terms?
BSF is an opportunity to develop sustainable schools geared to the needs of children and teachers. It should address all the basic issues around worn-out schools: 80% of our school buildings are more than 20 years old. It is hard to predict its success, but proper spaces to play and learn in, state-of-the-art ventilation, heating and lighting systems and the very best of ICT should have real impact on educational experience. (TG)
Will teachers be consulted on using ICT in their classrooms?
A well-defined process for engaging with stakeholders — including students, teachers, governors and parents — based on meetings and questionnaires, is essential. Good schools will have spotted ICT "champions" within each curriculum area with whom to test out ideas. All consulted should be involved at each stage, not just at the start. (AB)
Design and building should be monitored; if changes are needed, they should be encouraged. This process of defining requirements and checking on effective delivery can be incorporated into the Design Quality Indicators for Schools (DQIfS) process of consultation. (AT)
Teaching and learning ICT make demands that often go beyond, although they include, the traditional classroom. How will architects reconcile the needs both to accommodate traditional teaching and provide spaces with technical specifications like electronic and desk work stations, temperature and sunlight control?
Some schools still want ICT skills taught in dedicated areas, usually for better security and supervision. Personalised learning means students and staff need variety: lecture rooms, and small-group and privatestudy spaces. Effective alternatives range from extensive open plan to a mix of open planand cellular space with through-movable walls and screens space. ICT products are increasingly compact allowing flexible use of furniture; wi-fi can help solve networking; good design of blinds, windows and ventilation will deal sustainably with glare and thermal comfort. The hardest nut to crack is acoustics. This is where we need more design focus and investment. (SP)
Many teachers are nervous about what BSF will mean for their school. Will smaller and highly successful schools like my own be shut to be replaced by academies whose success is still in the balance?
Not in our lifetime! The programme is about improvement, with academies only part of the overall strategy to improve learning in the UK. We need a variety of schools and there is no desire (or indeed any sense) in closing successful schools. Successful learning is about a complex mix of skills and attributes coming together — not about a name. (JL)
Is BSF about closing failing schools and reopening them as academies?
BSF is not about closing schools, it's about making sure each local area has the right range of schools in the right location to offer high-quality learning for all pupils — not just for now, but for decades to come. There is no one-size-fits–all approach. Councils have to consider rising or falling pupil numbers, parental preferences, breadth of provision, school performance and access to the whole curriculum. Responding to these needs might include co-locating or amalgamating schools and developing a wider range of providers, such as trusts or academies. (TB)
How do we persuade parents, carers and the media that "education" can be developed in different ways to traditional "schooling"?
There's a lot of noise in the media about "traditional" teaching styles, but we vastly underestimate the fact that parents and carers are some of the greatest advocates of new technology. In a Becta survey, 80% of parents thought technology brings lessons to life. Given the ease with which the younger generation uses technology, personalised, "anytime, anyplace, anywhere" learning has to be part of the mix going forward. (TB)
Will attendance at school ever be monitored in a manner befitting the 21st century, recognising significant study can be done offsite?
Until we recognise a pupil's learning in its entirety instead of only supporting classroom activity, we will do nothing to close the growing achievement gap between those who benefit from learning at home and those who don't. Technology offers a unique opportunity for schools to extend learning support into the home, which is why my charity is so determined to eliminate the digital divide for schoolchildren in this country. (VT)
With technological advancement, what do you imagine life will be like in schools 10 years from now?
Relationships will surely change as students access more information for themselves. Technology will help teachers and students develop new working relationships with businesses, other public services and community organisations. Schools will become more outward-looking, working collaboratively with local, national and international communities. Life will be good! (JL)
Panel of experts
Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools
Ty Goddard, director of the British Council for School Environments
Sunand Prashad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects
John Lorimer, capital programme director, corporate services, Manchester city council
Andy Buck, headteacher of recently rebuilt Jo Richardson community school, Barking and Dagenham
Valerie Thompson, chief executive, E-Learning Foundation
Andy Thompson, independent architecture consultant and until 2005 chief architect at DFES
All questions come direct from individual teachers.
Weblinks
www.teachersupport.info
www.bsce.uk.net
www.architecture.com
www.partnershipforschools.org.uk
www.e-learningfoundation.com
