Council signs Building Schools for the Future contract

Rochdale Borough Council has signed a ten year contract with Inspiredspaces to work on their £190 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project to transform all the borough’s secondary schools.

The project starts in the next two weeks with the construction of new and refurbished facilities at Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College and Siddal Moor Sports College.

Inspiredspaces, a Carillion-led joint consortium is the council’s local education partner, responsible for rebuilding and refurbishing 14 secondary and special schools across the borough.

During the last four months the Inspiredspaces consortium, the council and BSFI/Partnerships for Schools have been finalising how they plan to deliver the programme.

Over the next 3 years, all secondary schools will see major investment in ICT with St Anne’s Academy in Middleton being the first school to benefit from BSF investment in September 2010.
Siddal Moor Sports College in Heywood will be the first to be remodelled and refurbished, transforming the learning experience with new and improved teaching and enhanced community / sport facilities.

Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College in Milnrow will benefit from exciting new learning spaces and high quality public facilities, to support the college’s delivery of extended and community services.

Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, said he is delighted the contract has been signed and that work will get underway this month:

“Transformation of education in the borough is firmly on track, and this investment in our schools will make a huge difference to standards of education. All our pupils, teachers and the local community will benefit enormously.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of PfS, the government agency responsible for delivering the BSF programme nationally, said:

“This is excellent news for young people, teachers and the wider local communities in Rochdale. Reaching this milestone is a testament to the successes so far, and I look forward to charting the progress of the authority as it works to deliver 21st century schools throughout the borough.”