A report released this week argued that the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme would benefit from greater teacher and school engagement.

The publication, written by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) for the Department for Schools, Children and Families, argued that schools waiting to join BSF need better support to maintain their current facilities, which are hindered by poor acoustics and temperature control problems in particular.

The report mirrors our own findings, which were laid out in the ‘Just another brick in the wall’ publication last year after studying the results of a joint survey by Teacher Support Network and the British Council for School Environments.

Teacher Support Network Chief Executive, Patrick Nash, said:

“Time pressures – resulting from the rapid pace of the procurement process and teacher workload – restrict the opportunity for teachers to contribute their expertise to the creation of their new working environment. We now hope that further support is given to enable teachers to be actively involved in the creation of their schools.”

The PwC report can be found here: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk./_doc/13240/2ndannualreport.pdf

We will continue our campaign for better school buildings and better teacher engagement. In the meantime, the following factsheets could help you to improve your school building:

- School Environment.
- Architecture of schools.