No. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is about far more than just buildings. The programme creates a unique opportunity to transform the way secondary schools function and then develop the buildings for the 21st Century, with teaching and learning to match.

The BSF project brings a substantial amount in government funding to Essex, providing an opportunity to accelerate the transformation of education in the County.

Without a major funding injection it would be impossible to tackle important issues around education and some schools would continue to suffer from inadequate, inappropriate or insufficient facilities and resources. This includes school buildings at the end of their useful lifecycle; classrooms built for a past era; poor teaching and learning facilities; buildings not designed for the use of ICT and a lack of specialist facilities.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has a huge potential to change both teaching and learning: it encourages individual learning programmes which are tailored to individual pupil needs and allows learning to take place outside of school sites and school hours. A significant percentage of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding is allocated to ICT in order to ensure that the ICT provided to schools is up to 21st Century standard.

Britain, like all other developed countries, is facing increased competition and this means that for young people to succeed they will need more skills and better qualifications than ever before. Many school buildings are of ageing design and are inappropriate to the way education will be delivered in future. To raise educational standards, existing schools need to be made better and new school buildings must be well designed and built to be suitable for our educational needs in years to come.

Today’s schools need to be able to accommodate a more diverse curriculum, new ways of learning and new technology. Schools also need to provide resources for the community as a whole, and pupils with special educational needs. As new school buildings will serve their communities for many years to come it is important that they are high quality, attractive buildings, and flexible enough to adapt to future challenges.

Some school buildings are no longer suitable for our needs or to provide the top class education the borough’s children and young people deserve. Additionally,Essex’s school population is declining and we both want and need to give young people from Essex’s diverse communities the opportunity to learn and grow up together.

It is important that the council acts now to ensure schools continue to thrive and develop in the long term. The whole of the secondary school provision is being looked at to ensure we have the right number of schools in the right places.

No school will be closed without full consultation with students, parents and staff.

BSF funding is available for secondary schools only. However the Government has announced a separate programme of investment in primary schools, which we are currently planning for.

The BSF programme has the backing of all major political parties at present.

Yes. The schools and council will carry out a number of consultations and information sessions to make sure that there are plenty of opportunities to have your say. Neighbours of any new school will be able to express their views as part of the planning process. Details of events will be posted on this website.

All the normal statutory proposals associated with major changes to schools will apply, including the need to undertake consultation. We intend to actively involve teachers, parents, students, and the wider community in developing proposals for new facilities. As the build programme develops further details will be available on our website.

The funding for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme comes from the national BSF scheme. Through this, the Council is aiming to invest a substantial amount of capital funds into Essex secondary schools over the next five to six years.

Details are available on this website. Further information can be found through the schools themselves, you will find website links on the school pages.