Four more 21st Century schools given go-ahead in Newcastle

Published: 2009-11-30

Newcastle is now entering its second and final phase of the government’s multi-billion pound Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme in which a further four 21^st Century eco-friendly schools will be built across the City.

Financial approval was received on 26^th November 2009 and work has begun on site this month to build the new transformational and energy optimising schools; where, even the crushed bricks from the demolished old school buildings will be used as a foundation base to create the many new walkways to guide the students around their new school grounds.

The latest new schools in the programme, delivered by the Local Education Partnership (LEP), Aura Newcastle, include St Mary’s RC Comprehensive and Gosforth Junior High School, both of which will be built on their existing sites; and Sir Charles Parsons School and Walker Technology College. 

Sir Charles Parsons will remain at its current location and Walker Technology will be relocated to a new site alongside Sir Charles Parsons in the Waverdale area of the city, where they will benefit from working together and sharing resources, most notably, life skills facilities and sporting provisions.

All four new schools have been designed and will be built to incorporate sustainable, renewable energy solutions. This will also include a site specific energy centre to serve both Walker Technology and Sir Charles Parsons; the benefit being that both schools will share a highly efficient biomass boiler and combined heat and power plant.

Kirsty Thirlwell, Aura Newcastle’s Chief Executive, explains:  “We continually work with the council to invest in Newcastle and support the regeneration and redevelopment of not only the City, but its future generations.  We look, wherever possible, to maximise benefits for all groups and through the delivery of the schools’ programme, we hope to achieve this; providing benefits for pupils, teachers, parents and the community of Newcastle as a whole.”

St. Mary’s and Gosforth Junior High will both sit inside carefully designed landscapes to enhance learning opportunities, for example, Gosforth Junior High, will benefit from a kitchen and environmental study garden, with raised planters to encourage the horticultural enterprise already in existence at the school.

“This construction phase, it is an exciting time for pupils, staff, parents and the schools’ wider communities and partners because it is the translation of all of their visions for 21^st century learning into solid buildings. “ comments Michael Quincey, Senior Advisor for Transforming Learning.

Mr Quincey further explains: “All the buildings have been designed to incorporate imaginative thinking about how young people learn effectively and to provide environments which are flexible, futureproof and include the latest knowledge about how to make buildings environmentally friendly.  The Council is proud to be a partner in Aura Newcastle, which was “highly commended” in the recent national Partnerships for Schools (PfS) Excellence in BSF Awards 2009.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of PfS, the government agency responsible for delivering the BSF programme, said: “I am delighted that Newcastle has reached Financial Close for the second phase of the city’s BSF project, which is already giving pupils and teachers safe, welcoming and inspiring places to learn, and the new facilities are also a real asset to the local communities they serve.

“Building Schools for the Future has now achieved 45 Financial Closes over the period of the national programme, demonstrating that work to transform schools across England is moving forward with great momentum.”

Aura has already delivered eight new state-of-the-art schools across the city and currently has a further four schools in the programme under construction, predominantly using local contractors. The final four transformational new builds will bring the total number of schools up to 16 to be opened under the BSF programme in the City by Autumn 2011.

Notes to editors

The BSF programme in Newcastle is managed by Aura Newcastle, the Local Education Partnership.  Partners in Aura are Newcastle City Council, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Sir Robert McAlpine, Robertson Capital Projects and Building Schools for the Future Investments.

All of the Phase 2 PFI schools have been designed with the environment in mind and benefit from a variety of energy efficiencies and sustainability measures in order to achieve the highest levels of thermal performance. This includes the optimisation of daylight and ventilation and lights and taps that turn on and off automatically, as necessary.  Further carbon footprint reduction elements include recycling centres and the provision of cycling routes and facilities, particularly at the newly regenerated Waverdale development.   The intention is to attain certified BREEAM status to acknowledge the sustainability of the schools once they are operational.

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew England’s state secondary schools estate during the lifetime of the programme. 129 schools across England are now benefitting from BSF investment.

PfS is the government’s delivery agent for the full suite of capital investment programmes into schools, including Building Schools for the Future; the Academies programme; the Primary Capital Programme; and the Devolved and Targeted Capital Programmes.

For more information and high resolution images, contact:

Aura – Marisa Nethercott on 0191 226 2023 or marisa.nethercott@aura-lc.com
Newcastle City Council - John Hart on 0191 211 5075 or jonathan.hart@newcastle.gov.uk

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