Building Schools for the Future –
transforming
education in Bristol
Leaping ahead with
the UK's first BSF programme
Bristol Local Education Partnership has continued to make strong progress on the city’s Building Schools for the Future programme, with the second new school, Bristol Metropolitan College, opened in April 2008 to join Bristol Brunel Academy, which opened in September 2007.
Bristol Metropolitan College (pictured above), formerly Whitefield Fishponds Community School, is a 1,080-place secondary school specialising in languages, linked to an existing unit for children with severe learning difficulties. Many current and former students and staff attended a "Farewell to Whitefield School" event on March 8, which included tours of the new building.
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Building Schools for the Future is a 15-year Government programme to raise educational attainment by rebuilding or renewing every one of England’s 3,500 secondary schools. In Bristol, the country’s first BSF programme is being delivered by a Local Education Partnership (LEP) between Bristol City Council, Partnerships for Schools – the government body for managing BSF – and Skanska, one of the world’s largest construction services companies.
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The first new school, Bristol Brunel Academy (pictured above), hosted a visit by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, as pupils arrived for their first day in the brand new school, September 6 , 2007. Bristol Brunel Academy and Bristol Metropolitan College will be followed by two more schools to be delivered in September 2008 and January 2009, and other new schools in the years to come. All of these schools will offer great learning environments for students of all ages, and will be open during extended hours so they can be used by the wider community as well as school students.
