After much wrangling, the build phase of our BSF project at the City of Leicester College finally stated up in April of this year, and is scheduled to be completed by October 2013. Below right you can see the first steels going up for the Business and the Design & Technogy Hub.
 Digging Commences – April 2012 |
 Work in Progress – June 2012 |
We have received some 3D visualisations of the current plans for The City of Leicester College from Miller Consortium (see the post “Latest Floor Plans – circulated for discussion”).
These begin to give a much clearer vision of the character of the proposed new build.
Vehicular Approach to the new building
Below are some more views – click on the thumbnails to get a better look of the current design for TCOLC!
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 Entrance |
 Foyer Section |
 Dining Terrace |
Vehicular Approach |
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 Overview |
 Ariel View |
This is the second report from the recent BSF Champions visit to Moscow. I will be posting more as and when I get around to it.
Students talk about desert islands at School #1298, Moscow
Each class in the Moscow schools we visited were around the same size as ours – between 27 and 30 students. However, for core subjects such as Maths, Russian Language, Sciences, and ICT, these groups were always split in half so that there were no more than 15 in each group. The smallest teaching groups were reserved for the teaching of English (as a foreign language) where classes were divided into 3, so that each group had no more than 10 students. English Language teachers are consequently much in demand in Russian schools. As pay rates are set by individual head teachers, MFL teachers are often are paid better than other subject teachers!
Teaching groups are never divided by ability – we saw no evidence of setting in any school we visited (with the exception of PE – more on this in a future report!). However, students need to reach a certain level of competency before moving on to the next year. Students not making this grade are kept back and repeat the year in the same grade, much like in the USA. There are also “advanced” courses that only more able students can follow.
The small classes mirrored Moscow’s small schools. The schools we visited ranged between 300-600 students, with 550 students being the standard size. This gave schools a homely feel, and it could also be felt in the positive relationships between staff and students, as the teachers knew and had taught most of the students.
Students at School #1920 Moscow perform "little red riding hood"
The teaching of English Language was a real strength in the schools we visited. I saw some great lessons, clearly demonstrating the confidence of the Russian students which was in evidence throughout our visit, and the positive relationships between students and with their teacher. The level of proficiency in English is also very high.
Below are more photos from various lessons with small class sizes…
I am going to post some of the things we saw in Moscow Schools during therecent BSF Champion’s TIPD visit bit by bit over the next few weeks…
Students in national dress explain their traditional ways of life
Every school we visited in Moscow had a museum, and some had several. The museums were a source of pride for the school, and were often filled with items either made, or donated by the students, parents and teachers.
The museums were used as teaching rooms when students were studying a related topic. The students also make very knowledgeable and articulate tour guides when visitors come to the school. Below are a few photos of some of the school museums we saw.
Student gives guided tour of Pushkin Museum
Schools in Moscow often have very good links with their National and local Museums, and regularly send groups of students to them to conduct related lessons or to learn directly from the historians working there. Some schools had agreements for their students to make use of museum archives when working on projects.
Things to think about for our new BSF school…
Would it be good to have a museum as part of our new build? Where should it go? What would it be about?
There are more photographs in this article – click on the link below to see more.
Beaumont Leys picked up two awards, including the top prize, at the Partnership for Schools annual national award ceremony earlier this month.
The Leicester City phase 1 school was awarded “BSF School of the Year” and also the special “Grand Prix” prize for the most transformational team.
Beaumont Leys wins top BSF prize
Head Teacher Liz Logie later commented:
“When we were working with the architect, I was clear that I wanted a building that was fabulous and gorgeous, inclusive and secure, open and flexible.
I think we succeeded. Building Schools for the Future has had a dramatic impact on everyone’s sense of well being and this is clear in students’ attitudes, behaviour and effort.
There is a real sense of pride, which is great to see”
Beaumont Leys - Interior view
An honourable mention for Soar Valley College, which was nominated in the Most Inspirational Use of Outside Space category, and also to Leicester City Council – considered for the Innovation in PE and Sport prize.
Last week the BSF Champions Group took a tour of one of the newly built phase 1 BSF schools, Judgemeadow Community College. Below is a short video from the tour. ( I’ll add some more detailed text about the visit soon).
One of the advantages of The City of Leicester College being a phase 2 school is that we can learn from those schools who have gone through the process before us. There were lots of good things about Judgemeadow’s new design- the space, the calm atmosphere, the flexible working spaces – and of course lots and lots of new shiny stuff! Take a look for yourself by clicking the video below!
It was quite an uplifting experience, and I left with my head buzzing with the possibilities for our own College design.
For those wondering about the process of designing a new school under BSF, this video is well worth a watch. It’s a slideshow with audio taken from a lecture at the University of Nottingham by Alan Dale, an Education Architect and independent consultant for a number of London Boroughs on BSF.
The first 5 minutes are a bit dull, but it does get better! Try and stay with it beyond the first couple of slides!
In the video, Alan Dale explains how the BSF design process moves from initial vision, to a list of rooms and requirements, to considering adjacencies, before moving on to design ideas. He takes a look at different plan forms and also discusses issues around circulation and flexible building design.
The lecture gives an interesting overview of the process of designing a new school, and you can spot a number of the similar design elements in our own original design plans from 2005.
A quick update of the present state of play:-
Phase 1 of Leicester City’s BSF project was recently completed ahead of schedule and on budget. The City Council are now gearing up to deliver the remainder of the project as quickly as possible over the next 3 years.
The City’s overarching Strategy for Change for phase 2 is “very near readiness for submission to Partnership for Schools”. The sections still needing updating are SEN, Inclusion, Access and Diversity, which are all due to be completed by the end of this month.
There have been some tricky negotiations recently around student numbers to be included in the strategy, as trends suggest secondary school numbers will continue to fall over the next five years, before rising sharply. These negotiations will have a big impact on the City’s BSF project as the Funding Allocation Model centres on projected student numbers.
If the Strategy for Change is accepted by PfS, then our College will most likely be completing a New Project Request towards the end of November, with the design phase commencing soon after that.
There is also a possibility that The City of Leicester College will be designated a Private Finance Initiative, along with Crown Hills School. If this happens, we will need to complete the New Project Request by the end of next month.
Whilst the College’s own plans are dependant on the City Council’s Strategy for Change being accepted by PfS, The City of Leicester College is expecting a funding envelope of around £19.4 million, to be used to finance a complete rebuild of the school. Under current plans, nearly all of our present structures will be demolished with the exception of the Design block. This space would be converted into Business Units, bringing commercial companies onsite and adding a new dimesion to our Business and Enterprise specialism.
It looks like BSF phase 2 is gathering momentum, so watch this space for future BSF news and updates!
“Read the rest” for a quick glossary of BSF jargon used in this post..
This video is from Ramesys Education, who have been awarded contracts to manage ICT services for BSF schools in Manchester and a few of the London Boroughs.
It’s a vision of school day where the use of integrated ICT enriches and enables students to learn effectively. We follow 2 students as they go about their day, making use of a variety of gadgets and systems and generally having a very relaxed and jolly time.
What I like about it most is not so much the technology itself, but the reliability of all the components. They all seem to work flawlessly and are totally hassle free. Sasha doesnt once appear to want to bash her laptop repeatedly into a wall in frustration when it eats her homework assignment or loses connection in the middle of her presentation.
Unfortunately, by all accounts the reality is somewhat trailing the dream – I heard that the Learning Platform Ramesys have been putting into their schools is horrible. The managed ICT services is for many the biggest bugbear in BSF. For me, the most important things will be the reliability of services provided and the ability for teachers to continue to be innovative and try new things.
I was recently shown this video clip of the “Learning Plaza”, at New Line Learning Academy, in Maidstone, Kent. I thought was interesting and would like to share with you and ask if staff and students at our college would like to see something similar as part of our new build.
The Learning Plaza is designed to hold 90 students at any one time – equivalent to 3 standard classes. There are enormous green tiered sofas at either end of the room which act as little amphitheatres. Between these is an assortment of office-style work space and ICT facilities. Teachers gather the students at one of the ends for group-work. Students can choose to kick off their shoes and lounge around on the sofas, working on their tasks with notepad computers, or sit at more traditional desks. You’ll have to watch the video to get the full idea!
Leicester Mercury – Education News BBC Education News – BSF
The City of Leicester College BSF Site 
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