Building a bright future for schools

Report by Kathy Bailes
 

Council hears details of '21 st Century learning' scheme
 

EDUCATION in the Dover district will be overhauled as part of a massive £250 million government project.

On Monday Kent County Council cabinet will receive an update on Wave 5 of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Under the plans 16 schools across the Dover district and Shepway will be rebuilt or refurbished to produce “high-tech, fully-inclusive, agile learning environments that are purpose-built to support 21st Century learning.”

A report to cabinet members says the work will result in schools achieving higher rates of GCSE passes, 95 per cent attendance, a greater curriculum for ages 14 to 19 and even a reduction in antisocial behaviour through the use of more out-of-school activities and community involvement.

A shortlist of the three private firms in the running to build the new schools in Dover and Shepway will be announced in May, with the preferred bidder chosen by April next year.

Building under Wave 5 will start in September 2011 and is expected to finish in 2015.

The project will involve the federation of Dover grammar for boys and girls in new buildings on a shared site, possibly at Whitfield, refurbishment at Astor College for the Arts, the merger of Walmer Science and Castle Community colleges, new facilities at Sir Roger Manwood’s school rebuilding at St Edmund’s Catholic School, work at Sandwich Technology School and improved IT facilities at Harbour special school in Dover.

Separate funding, including cash from Canterbury Christ Church University and the Ministry of Defence, will help Archer’s Court Maths and Computing College and the Duke of York’s Royal Military School become academies.

In the report cabinet member for education Sarah Hohler and managing director for education Rosalind Turner say there will be more vocational opportunities for district teenagers, which will be “further enhanced by the development of a new Maritime Academy in Dover and vocational centre on Walmer (Science College) site”.

They add that every school will have a second specialism by 2018, each will have a four-court sports hah and buildings will be designed “to eliminate bullying, such as in narrow corridors and toilets, and increase the capacity for passive supervision”.

All pupils will have a learning mentor and there will be a “rigorous focus on core subjects of English, maths, science and ICT”.

The report adds: “A reorganisation of schools, including two new academies, a trust school and the federation of two schools, will improve attainment, increase diversity, address surplus places, enhance collaboration and ensure schools are of the right size and location to meet the needs of their communities.”