Building on the successes of the past – transforming into a bright new future.
These are the guiding principles of Wigan Council’s most exciting and far-reaching plan to re-shape secondary education in our borough.
And now the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ journey to build an education system fit for the 21st century has begun in earnest.
The council has revealed detailed plans which will make best use of hundreds of millions of pounds of government funding to bring about an exciting and innovative transformation.
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) has been heralded as the biggest school building programme for more than 30 years and Wigan is set to benefit from more than £280m worth of investment.
The project forms part of the larger national BSF programme which will see £45bn invested in new secondary schools across the country.
Yesterday (Nov 27) Wigan Council’s Cabinet formally approved the proposals for the borough which will now be submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families for approval.
Wigan was originally in Wave 11 of the project, which would mean that funding would not be available until 2013 but if the council’s proposals are accepted, it could see the money made available by 2009 and building work begin by as soon as 2011.
Wigan Council’s Director of Children and Young People’s Services Nick Hudson says:
“We regard this as a fantastic opportunity to transform the lives and opportunities of future generations of young people in our borough.
“It is a chance for us to use the significant investment available to us to rebuild, remodel, extend or refurbish every secondary school in the borough.
“Wigan will be part of this project whatever happens but we have a chance to bring the allocation of funding forward and start the ball rolling early.”
Mr Hudson adds:
“We are still at the very beginning but we are talking about leaving a legacy to future generations that we can all be proud of.”
If the council’s proposals are accepted by the government consultation about the specific proposals could begin early next year.
Mr Hudson says:
“We believe that everyone in the borough has a vested interest in the success of this programme and we want the people of the borough to be our partners. We will be looking for as many views, suggestions and opinions as we can possibly get and we will also be using the consultation period as a chance to answer any questions and allay any concerns.”
The project would be rolled out in three phases and the specifics include:
- Transforming Atherton’s Hesketh Fletcher High School and the Pembec site in Pemberton into 14 – 19 centres.
- Expanding Westleigh, Fred Longworth and Hindley high schools.
- Creating one central new school for Lowton and Golborne which could include a primary school and children’s centre.
- Create one new school for Ashton.
- Create a central new school for Standish and Shevington.
All other secondary schools in the borough not affected by these plans will receive significant extra investment.
The timeline for Wigan’s Building Schools for the Future is as follows:
- April 2009 – extensive borough-wide consultation begins
- September to October 2009 – Publish statutory notices and hold a representation period
- December 2009 – Wigan Council’s Cabinet makes decision on the plans
- September 2011 – Lowton and Golborne singe school established on the current site for one year. 14 – 19 centre established at the Pembec site.
- September 2012 – Lowton and Golborne single school moves to new site. Westleigh, Hindley and Fred Longworth High Schools enlarged. 14 – 19 centre established on the Hesketh Fletcher site.
- September 2013 – New facilities including the transformed Byrchall/Cansfield and Standish/Shevington schools begin to open.
But work has already begun on Building Schools for the Future in Wigan with the creation of a £23m new ‘learning campus’ which will become the new Abraham Guest High School in Orrell.
This site was chosen as an early entry or ‘pathfinder’ into the BSF and the complex has been designed by NPS North West. It will include a secondary school, primary school, Sure Start Children’s Centre, Adult Learning Centre and joint public and school libraries. The new school is expected to open in early 2010.
Wigan Council’s Cabinet Champion for Children and Young People Cllr Susan Loudon says:
“This project provides an excellent insight into what the future of education will be in our borough. The decision by Cabinet to approve the plans is probably one of the most important it will ever take.”
“While the entire project is ambitious and extremely exciting we understand that people will have concerns about the future for their children and communities. We expect people to feel passionately about their local schools but we also want them to feel passionately about these plans.
“Providing the very best we can for our children and young people is at the heart of everything we do and we need to equip them to be able to face the changes and challenges that lie ahead.
“If they are going to be able to compete in the increasingly global 21st century economy then they need 21st century skills and 21st century facilities.
“Building Schools for the Future is a journey we all need to make together and we’ll be keeping everyone informed of what is happening every step of the way. The destination is a better future for generations to come.”
Here’s what some of the borough’s top decision makers have already said about the BSF plans:
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Leigh MP Andy Burnham:
“There cannot be a more important day for our borough. We have the chance to say that this was an historical one where we began to make real changes and improvements in the learning environments and therefore the aspirations of our young people. The schools in our borough are improving and we can be pleased with the progress we have made so far but we need to go further and we need to do more. This truly is a once in a generation chance to make a difference.”
Leader of Wigan Council Lord Peter Smith:
“We cannot say what is going to happen in the future but we know it is going to be very different and very challenging for young people and we want to give them every chance to succeed. We have talent in Wigan, lots of talented children in schools and education. Education should be a means of finding what our children’s talents are. We know we need to make sure that every child maximises all of their talents. This is a chance for us to transform secondary education in our borough and make it fit for the 21st Century.”
Wigan Council Chief Executive Joyce Redfearn:
“It is very important for us as to have our partners joining us to look at what we can do together. As a council our ambition is to raise the aspirations of all our citizens and make sure they can play a real part in the future economy. We want to take all those positive things, the knowledge and understanding that exists in our borough and rise to the challenges of a future that we have a chance to influence together.”
