BSFBlog

Another milestone for the North Lincolnshire BSF strategy was achieved last Thursday, the second Bidders Day, held at Forest Pines Hotel. The successful event was hosted by the strategic leaders of North Lincolnshire Simon Driver, Richard Stiff and David Lea who in collaboration with the principal strategic BSF Leaders Ade Williamson and John Galbraith presented North Lincolnshire's BSF Strategy, to a packed audience of potential bidders, The audience were further informed from an educational perspective by an input from the Principals of the two reference schools, Angela Briggs, Melior Business, Enterprise and Arts College and Dr Tom Clark, Brumby Engineering College. The Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Mark Kirk further endorsed the event and the strategy in a supportive closing address. It proved to be a really successful and productive event which opened the door for potential bidders to begin to engage with the process.

Regards 

Kevin

As the first guest blogger, I have some great news to tell everyone. Last week, our Building Schools for the Future project reached an important milestone. The government approved our Business Case. This sets out plans for each of the Scunthorpe secondary schools' new or revamped buildings, and the ICT equipment they will use.

This means that we can begin the search for a partner to undertake the building work and supply new ICT equipment. We will invite companies to start bidding now for the project, and the field will be whittled down to the chosen partner over the next 18 months. You may be thinking, why so long? Well, there are two reasons.

First, at over £80 million, this is the biggest education project ever in North Lincolnshire - ten times the size of anything we've done before, in fact. So we have to take great care in choosing the right companies to give us the best value for our money. Secondly, before it finally hands over the cash, the government will want to check that our BSF project will genuinely transform education for the future. That's because the new buildings won't just offer a much better environment to work in. They will need to be really flexible and innovative, so a range of different learning and teaching styles can be used. The ICT will also need to offer the same innovative approach. It's actually the key to our plans, and we'll spend around 10% of the £80 million on computers and ICT systems.

During the next 18 months we will make sure that pupils and parents can get involved in the designs of the first schools to be started - Melior College and Brumby Engineering College and we will be using the BSF Blog as part of our communication strategy to keep you informed and engaged.

Ade Williamson

BSF Project Director

Coming soon- I can officially announce the brand new BSF newsletter will be out in November 2007.

Not only will the newsletter give you all the latest news and more in-depth information on the programme. But it's also a chance for you find out more about the schools, and tell us what you think about BSF.

The newsletter will be circulated through the schools of North Lincolnshire. So its an opportunity for pupils, parents, grandparents, local businesses and the schools community to have a personal update.

Look out for your newsletter, but if you want more info now visit the council's WebPages on the ‘My Favourite' link below.

Finally my first guest blogger will appear today, Ade Williamson the BSF Director will be announcing some important news.

Regards

Kevin

BSF is not just about the transformation of our School buildings; it is about the transformation of education for all young people. It is an ambitious and innovative project and its impact on the education of our young people will transform their futures.

Lets go right back to beginning to find exactly what BSF is and how it will make benefit North Lincolnshire.

The Government is investing £4.5bn in BSF nationally and through it they aim to rebuild and redesign every secondary school in England. By the end of the BSF project every secondary school will have state of the art buildings and IT facilities that both pupils and local communities can use.

North Lincolnshire Council has £80m to spend the first wave of BSF schools. The six schools and the initial artists impressions of how they may look in the future were featured in my earlier Blog entry. Have a look for your school. If you want more information click on North Lincolnshire Council's BSF WebPages listed on the ‘My Favourite' link.

Regards

Kevin