There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that school buildings are far more than a ‘cost of production’, but, in fact, an important strategic instrument for improving children’s welfare and life-chances. We summarise a few of these studies below.
“Schools' Concerns and their Implications for Local Authorities: Annual Survey of Trends in Education 2006”, report by the National Foundation of Educational Research, 2006.
Head teachers from almost 400 primary schools and over 1100 secondary schools were surveyed by the NfER on a range of current issues in education. In one part of the survey, head teachers were asked, from a list, which four issues caused them the most concern. In both the primary and secondary school sector, school buildings were considered as one of the four main concerns for head teachers. Interestingly, the most important concern cited by head teachers was budget constraints arising from factors such as falling rolls. Thus, in this context, the adequacy of school buildings are a concern in themselves (e.g. unsuitable premises may inhibit the teaching of the curriculum) as well as causing concern on other factors, such as budgets. Local authorities can deal with other issues of falling school rolls and poor buildings by reorganising provision to form stronger schools in improved or new premises.
“Improving poorly performing schools in England”, report by the National Audit Office, January 2006.
The following extract is taken from page 33 of the report:
“While unsatisfactory buildings are not a main cause of poor performance, improving school buildings has a positive effect; 46 per cent of head teachers in our survey considered that the unsatisfactory quality of school buildings had contributed to their schools’ difficulties, while 54 per cent considered that improvements to school buildings had assisted recovery.”
“Building better performance: An empirical assessment of the learning and other impacts of schools capital investment”, report by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Department for Education and Skills, March 2003.
These are the main findings from the report:
- There is a statistically significant relationship between capital investment and pupil performance.
- Of the different types of capital investments, suitability-related capital investments (i.e. investments related directly to the teaching of the curriculum) have a more direct impact on pupil performance than condition or sufficiency-related investments.
- Capital investments can help improve teacher and pupil morale.
- School buildings provide benefits that go beyond learning outcomes. For example:
- Further education colleges can make use of school facilities to provide training in ICT to adult learners.
- School facilities, such as a sports hall, can provide recreational use.
- Health and safety-related benefits of capital investments (e.g. removal of asbestos roofing).
- Economic benefits, e.g. from employment of building contractors and architects.
