Lessons learned from building the same schools with shared knowledge
Grant Robertson reports on an impressive collaboration which is producing more new facilities for Scotland’s pupils
The magnificent Queensferry Crossing over the Firth of Forth has been viewed as a structure changing the landscape of Scotland. But allow me to suggest another Scottish project which also connects communities and provides opportunities for future generations.
As the Education Design Director within Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), which manages the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme on behalf of the Scottish Government, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on what we have achieved and learned as construction starts on our 100th new school, Bertha Park in Perth.
SFT’S role is to encourage efficient, effective, excellent solutions through increased collaboration and commonality of design.
It is obvious that everyone involved in the schools programme – from councils, teachers, pupils and communities through to designers and construction companies are passionate about creating modern learning environments which support better learning outcomes.
In working towards this, I would like to acknowledge the foresight of two councils, East Renfrewshire and Midlothian, who made a bold bid to the Scottish Government to develop their projects in parallel, proposing to be part of an innovative pilot project and work collaboratively.
This was the first time two Scottish councils had come together to procure and deliver two schools simultaneously using similar designs. This innovative approach proved so successful that it has been used by other councils to achieve benefits and savings.
The result of the pilot initiative led to the creation of two new schools, Eastwood High and The Lasswade Centre, both built using the same, highly efficient ‘block’ design concept, yet both are unique design solutions looking completely different, which are specific to their local requirements.
This commonality of approach provided education, design and financial benefits. From then on, and in subsequent buildings, it has been about evolution and fine-tuning. Most users are unaware their new learning environment shares common elements with many other projects in the programme, because each is individually tailored.
These pilot schools became showcases, and demonstrated that the design approach has been tested and proven. Once the main projects were underway we shared the knowledge gained and lessons learnt to help inform councils with the development of all future projects.
When the schools programme was launched, we set out to build 55 schools from the original £1.25bn budget. Thanks to our interventions, focusing on collaborative working and on sharing design principles, this brought about significant savings which led to 12 more high-quality schools to be built using the same budget.
Based on this work, the Scottish Government extended the programme to £1.8 billion increasingthenumberofschoolsto112.sft’s work has allowed four additional schools to be built taking the total in the programme to 116.
So what kind of facilities have we created? The schools of today and tomorrow are substantially different from even a generation ago. Learning environments need to be bright and welcoming spaces, where staff, learners and the community at large are included and feel a genuine sense ofownership.theclassroomstillhas a place but increasingly there is more open plan learning space with glass walls improving connection and collaboration between learners and different curriculum areas supporting the delivery of a blended learning experience.
Many of the new facilities are encouraging even more use during evenings, weekends and holidays.
These are vibrant community assets where we have seen pensioners enjoy a reading group in a café run by students, or where community groups can undertake classes simultaneously with other learners.
Really, it is up to the community and the teaching professionals to decide how to best use their facilities.
The schools programme has been a concerted effort by all involved that is now positively impacting on communities across Scotland and we feel a real sense of pride in what has been achieved. While the Queensferry Crossing connects across the Forth, these projects are making connections which support learning across the whole of Scotland. Grant Robertson, Education Design Director at the Scottish Futures Trust.