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New professional alliance supports education estates managers to meet compliance demands
Last month, the new Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, gave a speech at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Education at a Glance annual report launch.
Her visit came as new data shows that a third of children leaving primary school do not meet the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths following assessment.
And one in 10 pupils in this country misses at least a meal a month because their parents can’t afford to buy food.
Phillipson said: “Lurking beneath all of these separate challenges is a common denominator of distress: child poverty — the stain on our society that has seeped into the fabric of far too many families.
“Tackling child poverty is one piece of the puzzle — and it’s a top priority for this parliament. But fixing the foundations of opportunity demands equity in education too.
“For this new government, it means high and rising standards across the length and breadth of education.
“September signals the end of summer, but a new beginning for education.
“The work to fix the foundations, to build a new nation of opportunity, has now begun.”
As yet, the new government has not made much mention of the physical infrastructure from which these services will be delivered, other than the ongoing commitment to addressing the RAAC crisis and predictions about the number of new nurseries which will be needed to meet the extension to early years funding.
But it is inevitable that any change in policy or approach will have an impact on the estate.
About Jo: Jo is the editor of Education Property, having joined Nexus Media in November.
She has been specialising in design and construction best practice for the past 14 years, working on the Building Better Healthcare Awards and editing both
Indeed, the role of EFM professionals was front and centre when the update to the Academy Trust Handbook was recently published.
For the first time it includes changes which mean that poor estates management could be used as a reason to issue schools with improvement notices.
You can read more about this in our Estates and Facilities section (p38), where there is also an interview with Stuart McGregor, director of operations at the National Alliance of School Premises Managers (NASPM), an organisation launched earlier this year to provide school and premises teams and leadership staff with assurance in complete school health, safety, and estates management.
Elsewhere, in our Finance and Property section (p16) we look at the key considerations when refinancing school property portfolios; explore what nurseries are looking for when acquiring new sites; and provide an overview of the importance of the valuation process.
Design and Build features include insight into a new approach to construction projects, which sees a ‘client representative’ take pressure off school leaders; and we look at the importance of outdoor spaces.
Coming up in the next edition we will be looking at the impact of Building Management Systems on estates efficiency and sustainability. And we will be exploring how sensory rooms can provide spaces for improved learning.
If you can help with these, or any other features, please contact joanne.makosinski@nexusgroup.co.uk
Jo Makosinski Editor Education Property
Building Better Healthcare and Healthcare Design & Management magazines.
She has a special interest in the design of public buildings including schools, nurseries, colleges, hospitals, health centres, and libraries.
Work has begun on the construction of specialist anatomy training facilities at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The two-storey extension to the Edith Cavell Building (ECB) is located adjacent to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and will provide the latest facilities to deliver the highest standards of training.
The anatomy suite is due to be finished in late 2025 and will become operational during 2026, offering 390sq m of teaching space in seminar rooms, an immersive anatomy teaching space, improved preparation areas for staff and students, and associated storage and academic office facilities.
students we can train and provide them with state-of-the-art facilities.”
A spokesman for UEA said: “It will offer significantly more space, which is needed for teaching and practical skills development, and will support the recruitment and retention of highly-skilled healthcare professionals both regionally and nationally.”
Charles ffrench-Constant, pro vice chancellor in UEA’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, added: “Our anatomy teaching facilities have been at the heart of our healthcare student training for two decades and it’s now wonderful to be able to fully modernise this vital part of our buildings to increase the number of
Replacing the existing suite, the new facility will be one of the country’s first to meet contemporary standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) following new legislation relating to exposure to formaldehyde.
It will increase teaching and course capacity at undergraduate, postgraduate, and specialist training levels, and provide flexibility to react to technological changes in teaching methods, sitting alongside the immersive training facilities within the ECB.
Stephen Chapman, senior faculty manager for UEA Medicine and Health Sciences, said: “The new anatomy suite will be a worldwide exemplar facility incorporating current best practices.
“Meeting the needs of an expanding NHS requires major increases in student numbers for courses that require experience with the
suite, and this development ensures that we can meet that demand and benefit the population of our region.”
The majority of funding for the facility has come through a grant of £4.8m from the Office for Students, with additional contributions drawn from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences through funds ringfenced exclusively for use on capital development projects and the wider university.
The building has been designed by LSI Architects.
Peter Durrant, director at LSI, said: “As a design team, we have enjoyed working very closely with the anatomy team and wider UEA stakeholders to design a new facility that will be at the forefront of new ways of teaching.
“We’re very much looking forward to seeing this project come to life over the coming months.”
to lead the construction of the Heywood Academy on behalf of the Department for Education.
Ellis Williams Architects has designed the two-storey building in Heywood which will be operated by the New Bridge Multi Academy Trust to provide education for up to 76 pupils aged 11-19 with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
On the ground floor there will be a main hall, as well as a dining room and offices. There will also be two sensory rooms, five classrooms, and a food science lab.
Upstairs, pupils aged over 16 will be
provided with seven classrooms, a library, and a common room.
The project will also include a multi-use games area, habitat area, and forest school.
Landscaping will feature orchard trees, wildflower grasses with mown paths, and timber growing boxes.
These high-quality facilities and sensory and outdoor learning spaces will cater to the diverse needs of the children.
And the construction process will embrace sustainable practices and renewable energy sources to ensure it achieves net zero carbon neutral status.
The project will also generate
a unique partnership with M3 Project, an East Lancashire charity providing essential advice, support, and housing for the homeless.
Martin Horne, divisional director for the North West at Tilbury Douglas, said: “We look forward to working with project stakeholders to ensure the new building is delivered to the highest quality to enable the academy trust to offer first-class educational facilities to students with SEN in Rochdale.”
Eric Wright Construction has started the building and fitout of a £22m college building for Seashell Trust in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, which will deliver specialist education facilities for students aged 16-25.
The new building for Royal College Manchester is made up of a reception and specialist classrooms along with sports and administration facilities.
It will also incorporate a café, activity hall with extended climbing wall, fitness suite, rebound room, sensory integration room, and a suite of flexible multi-purpose rooms at ground-floor level, with contemporary office space above and associated external landscaping.
The building will provide 12 new classrooms and six individual teaching spaces.
Seashell provides support for young people with complex disabilities and communication needs.
And the specially-equipped new college building is designed to enable staff and students to move about with the minimum of restriction.
It replaces an existing building which was not fit for purpose and did not have space for the adaptations needed to accommodate many of the students, some of whom use wheelchairs and other
equipment to move about.
Some students also live on campus in neighbouring residential homes.
Commenting on the start on site, James Eager, director lead from Eric Wright Construction, said: “We’re really pleased to have started on the delivery of this superb new college building which will really enhance the lives of the students and staff alike.
“The building has gone through a painstaking design and review process in collaboration with the trust’s teaching team, with every element of its design tailored to
meet the needs of the students.”
Brandon Leigh, chief executive at Seashell, added: “Watching the building finally start to take shape is exciting and we can’t wait to see students and staff enjoying the building very soon.
“The new college build will mean better accessibility for students and will be much better at meeting the needs of the young adults with complex disabilities who come to Seashell.”
Eric Wright started enabling works in January and the building is expected to be completed by Autumn next year.
The University of Southampton has struck a deal with Kier Southern to deliver a new teaching and learning building on the North East Quadrant site.
The £150m development forms part of the Highfield Campus in the city and will be developed in two phases.
The first phase will involve construction of a 168,000sq ft, five-storey teaching facility and ancillary facilities hub designed by architect, Sheppard Robson.
The building will be split into three interconnected areas around a central atrium.
The west block consists of a concrete structure with the east/south proposed to be
of a steel frame. Planning consent is still needed, but main works are due
to start early next year.
The new building, one of the centrepieces of the
university’s major estates transformation, should be ready to open at the start of the 2027/28 academic year.
Phase 2 has still to be worked on as a concept design.
Kevin Argent, executive director of estates and facilities, said the flagship building will create a next-generation teaching and learning facility which has a focus on student experience, wellbeing, and sustainability.
Development of the site, which has been planned for several years, will support plans for growth in staff and student numbers, and create a more-sustainable and inclusive campus.
Queen Margaret University campus, which was built in Musselburgh in 2007, is undergoing a significant transformation to develop new teaching and learning spaces.
The Future Spaces project involves the revitalisation of some of the university’s mostimportant learning and teaching spaces to help ensure QMU meets the changing needs of students and staff.
The work also aims to support QMU’s ambitions to refresh, enhance, and modernise the campus so it continues to attract prospective students and supports the growth of the university.
With an investment of £2.1m, students and staff can expect to see a dramatic change to the Learning Resource Centre and some ground-floor classroom areas, which will ultimately expand capacity for self-directed and collaborative student learning and informal teaching activity.
The enhancement and repurposing of spaces will also provide more-flexible use of key areas of the building and a wider choice of more-comfortable, vibrant, and sociable study space options.
And some of the changes will provide increased capacity for larger practical group work, which will allow greater flexibility with timetabling and support the delivery of high-demand courses.
“Queen Margaret University already
continue investing in our buildings to ensure they reflect changes in the way students work and developments in the way we teach,” said Bruce Laing, director of campus services.
“Essentially, we want to create welcoming and comfortable study and teaching spaces where students want to be, and which will support and enhance their learning.
“Aside from supporting current students studying at the university, the investment will help us to remain competitive in our ability to attract prospective students.”
Stakeholder engagement took place across
A £1.6m project to build two new permanent classrooms at an outstanding special school is now complete and ready for the new academic year.
Rowan Gate Primary School in Wellingborough has replaced two temporary classrooms with a permanent building which will accommodate 140 pupils.
The improvement programme was funded by the Department for Education and took 12 months to build.
Rowan Gate Special School is a community special school for pupils aged 2-11 years.
The new classrooms have replaced the former double classroom mobile unit and will provide the necessary teaching and circulation space needed.
Councillor Scott Edwards, the council’s executive member for children, families,
plans and deliver attractive, flexible spaces which would inspire, motivate, and support students to fully engage in a diverse range of learning opportunities.
And the renovation work involves the transformation of the Learning Resource Centre to create spaces which support social learning through collaborative and peer group projects, and flexible spaces which support a diversity of informal teaching and supervision activity.
The work is being carried out by contractor, Morris & Spottiswood.
building ensures that there is good-quality permanent capacity at Rowan Gate school, and I am personally delighted that it will be open in time for the September term.”
Jason Smithers, leader of North Northamptonshire Council, added: “As a
needs of children and young people with SEND and their families and to investing in providing much-needed special school places in North Northamptonshire.
“We know this will have a significant and positive impact.”
A new secondary department is under development at Discovery Special Academy in Middlesbrough, utilising offsite construction methods to deliver the project quicker and with less onsite disruption.
The building, which is being delivered by Portakabin, will be home to 70 new secondary students aged 11-16 with special educational needs and disabilities and is an extension of the already-existing primary academy which opened in September 2018. Since then, Discovery Special Academy has added nursery, and now secondary, to its provision.
community in a tight timescale.
“The level of care, quality, and professionalism throughout has ensured that, together, we are on track to deliver this complex project on time.
“Students will thrive in this new environment and staff will be able to continue to deliver excellence of provision for years to come.
“It will also continue to benefit the wider community, breaking down barriers and supporting the vision for a trulyinclusive Tees Valley.”
The entire school building was manufactured using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), with the customdesigned modules precision built by Portakabin at its manufacturing facility in York and transported in convoy and installed in Middlesbrough in June.
Academy primary and new additional secondary school to be located on one site.
Over a five-day period, 30 modules were craned into place.
With over 1.6 million pupils in England now registered as having special educational needs (SEN), the much-needed additional spaces being made available will support pupils’ educational, therapeutic, and medical needs in the Teesside area.
Currently, students are placed in temporary accommodation on the site of one of Discovery’s sister academies, and this new provision, designed and delivered by Portakabin, will allow all students, carers, and teaching staff of Discovery Special
Comprising eight dedicated SEND teaching classrooms and shared teaching spaces, the new academy building will also feature a music and drama room, art classrooms, and food tech rooms, as well as a hall and an area for sensory integration therapy.
Jennifer Duncan, executive headteacher at the academy, said: “When we started this project with Portakabin, we were entering into a new world of construction and learning about Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
“We needed a company which could design and deliver a bespoke, highquality building to serve the academic and therapeutic needs of our growing academy
Jamie Blogg, contract sales manager at Portakabin, said: “It’s essential to us at Portakabin that we create a school that is not only attractive, but, more importantly, provides a flexible and safe environment that is welcoming not only to its pupils and staff, but also to parents, carers, and the wider Teesside community.
“It’s brilliant that the team here at Portakabin can be part of the Academy’s growth journey and we can’t wait to welcome the students and teachers to their new learning space later this year.”
Discovery Special Academy will also have new car parking provision for visitors and staff, alongside multiple minibus bays and a dedicated ambulance bay.
The single-storey modular building will be surrounded by an external courtyard and landscaped playing field and will link to the current primary school via a covered walkway.
Algeco UK has completed construction of a new school in Northampton just 18 months after winning the contract.
This is the biggest school build ever undertaken by the portable and modular building supplier, and was secured through the MMC Framework operated by the Department for Education (DfE).
Northampton School will eventually accommodate a total of 1,200 boys and girls between the ages of 11-18.
The buildings were created utilising Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in a quality-controlled offsite environment, ensuring the highest standards of workmanship and health and safety.
Algeco developed the project through a two-phase approach following the receipt of the DfE’s feasibility, developing the design in collaboration with the school and all stakeholders and achieving planning permission prior to manufacturing utilising an MMC approach, where the school is manufactured in modules and taken to site following completion.
This method means the build was completed in just 18 months, rather than typically three years for a traditionallybuilt structure.
Algeco experts started laying the foundations in January 2023.
A total of 210 modules were created
at the company’s factory in Carnaby and transported by road to the Northampton site.
The company also provided temporary decant classrooms while the main building was being constructed, as well as all the construction site welfare and associated services.
The school is a £28m state school project run by the Northampton School for Boys (NSB) Academy Trust.
It will provide a state-of-the-art facility for the teaching of secondary school pupils with dedicated sports, drama, science, and music rooms.
The new school opened to pupils on 4 September, with Year 8 students the first to start lessons.
Phil Pavey, managing director at Algeco Offsite Solutions (OSS), said: “This is one of the most-exciting projects Algeco UK has worked on — planning and
constructing a series of buildings to ensure the students of Northampton have the best-possible education has been very motivational for all of us.
“We sincerely hope the new Northampton School is a place where teachers and students alike will find a welcoming and inspirational environment, as well as being a fantastic focal point in the community.”
Gary Greenhoff, Algeco Offsite Solutions (OSS) project manager, added: “Using modular construction means this facility is ready much faster than traditional methods, and the flexibility it offers means the school has everything it could want and much more.
“There have been a few challenges along the way, including the heavy rain this springtime, but we overcame them all and are ready to hand the school over to the teachers and pupils ready for termtime in September.”
Tilbury Douglas has been appointed as lead contractor for the delivery of the new Beacon Academy in Cleethorpes on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).
The project forms an integral part of the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme, a decade-long initiative that involves the reconstruction or renovation of more than 500 schools and sixth-form colleges nationwide, enhancing learning environments for both students and teachers.
Procured through the DfE framework, the project will deliver a new three-storey
education sector and follows our recent appointment to build Sugar Hill Primary School.”
secondary school building.
Additionally, one existing block will be refurbished to offer general teaching classrooms and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) facilities.
The project will also include improved visitor parking and new social spaces for students.
Aiming for net zero carbon in operation, the school will incorporate air source heat
equipped with integrated photovoltaic panels, reducing energy consumption and enhancing biodiversity.
Phil Shaw, managing director for Building North at Tilbury Douglas, said: “Our selection by the DfE to construct the new Beacon Academy cements our reputation as a leading construction company in the UK
Jason Thurley, headteacher, added: “The whole academy community is extremely excited about the project to rebuild our school with a new, state-of-theart facility which will transform the educational experience for our students for many years to come.
“The new building will provide fantastic facilities for our current children and future generations attending the academy and will enable us to fully realise our ambitious curriculum and provide first-class facilities for our teachers and students.”
Government pushes ahead with reform agenda by scrapping single-headline Ofsted judgements for schools with immediate effect
Single-headline grades for schools will be scrapped with immediate effect to boost school standards and increase transparency for parents, the Government has announced.
Reductive single-headline grades fail to provide a fair and accurate assessment of overall school performance across a range of areas and are supported by a minority of parents and teachers, the new Government has ruled.
For inspections this academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
This reform paves the way for the introduction of School Report Cards from September 2025, which will provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing
and ensure that inspections are more effective in driving improvement.
Recent data shows that reports cards are supported by 77% of parents.
And the Government will continue to intervene in poorly-performing schools to ensure high school standards for children.
Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, said: “The need for Ofsted reform to drive high and rising standards for all our children in every school is overwhelmingly clear.
“The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents, and teachers.
“Single-headline grades are low information for parents and high stakes for schools.
“Parents deserve a much-clearer, much-broader picture of how schools are
performing — and that’s what our report cards will provide.
“This government will make inspection a more-powerful, more-transparent tool for driving school improvement.
“We promised change, and now we are delivering.”
As part of the announcement, where
Parents deserve a much-clearer, muchbroader picture of how schools are performing — and that’s what our report cards will provide
schools are identified as struggling, the Government will prioritise rapidly, getting plans in place to improve the education and experience of children, rather than relying purely on changing school management.
And, from early 2025, the Government will also introduce Regional Improvement Teams that will work with struggling schools to quickly and directly address areas of weakness, meeting a manifesto commitment.
The announcement follows engagement with the sector and the family of headteacher, Ruth Perry, after a coroner’s inquest found the Ofsted inspection process had contributed to her death.
Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, said of the move: “We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to prioritise Ofsted reform.
“Most parents understand the need for school inspection, but they want that inspection to help schools to improve as well as giving a verdict on the quality of education their children are receiving.
continue to intervene, including by issuing an academy order, which may in some cases mean transferring to new management.
“Parents have been very clear that they want to see changes to the way Ofsted reports back after visiting a school, and it is welcome to see a clear timetable being set out today for moving towards a report card that will give parents greater clarity of the performance of their children’s school.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of National Association of Headteachers, added: “We have been clear that simplistic one-word judgements are harmful, and we are pleased the Government has taken swift action to remove them.
“School leaders recognise the need for accountability, but it must be proportionate and fair and so we are pleased to see a stronger focus on support for schools instead of heavy-handed intervention.
“There is much work to do now in order to design a fundamentally-different, long-term approach to inspection and we look forward to working with government
And Ofsted will continue to identify those schools which would have previously been graded as ‘inadequate’.
The Government also currently intervenes where a school receives two or more consecutive judgements of ‘requires improvement’ under the ‘2RI’ policy.
With the exception of schools already due to convert to academies this term, this policy will now change.
The Government will instead put in place support for these schools from a highperforming school, helping to drive up standards quickly.
The changes build on the recentlyannounced Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will put children at the centre of education and make changes to ensure every child is supported to achieve and thrive.
Jon Andrews, head of analysis and
Most parents understand the need for school inspection, but they want that inspection to help schools to improve as well as giving a verdict on the quality of education their children are receiving
word judgements is a positive first step in reforming a school accountability system that has made leadership of some of the most-challenging schools even more difficult.
“Schools with low levels of disadvantage and high prior attainment are more likely to receive positive judgements from Ofsted and our own research shows that when schools consistently receive ratings that are less than good it is associated with an increase in teacher turnover, and an increasingly-disadvantaged intake, both of which make it more difficult to reverse the negative judgement.
“The current accountability system creates perverse incentives, including narrowing the curriculum, reducing the inclusiveness of admissions practices, and removing pupils from school rolls.
“The Government is therefore right to be looking more broadly at how school performance is measured.”
And Jo Henney, chief executive of care charity, Nugent, said: “This is a step in the right direction.
“No two days are the same in the education sector and to define the outcomes of a provision using only one word can be catastrophic, as we’ve seen with the tragic death of primary school teacher, Ruth Perry.
“As a charity that has a range of social care services, including an independent special school, it’s vital that the inspection system has more clarity, consideration of what impacts a school on a daily basis, and recognises the hard work involved in providing care and education to children all year round for us and mainstream settings.”
School leaders are calling on the new government to increase funding and support for schools affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
According to figures released by the Liberal Democrats last month, around 7,600 A-Level students are being taught in schools impacted by RAAC — a lightweight concrete which was commonly used in the 1950s as a cheaper alternative to standard concrete, but which has been found to be less durable and can led to structural failures.
In addition, 19,700 GCSE pupils are learning in buildings which pose a risk.
As a result of the findings, the Lib Dems are calling for a special appeals process for A-level and GCSE students who have had their education disrupted by crumbling concrete in schools to allow them to appeal for higher grades.
The party’s education spokeswoman, Munira Wilson MP, said: “Thousands of children have had their education severely disrupted by crumbling concrete making their schools unsafe.
“It is shocking that some children spent months being taught in makeshift facilities through this crucial time in their education.
“The previous Conservative government abandoned children and parents, leaving a legacy of crumbling classrooms. And the new government must now ensure pupils and parents impacted by these years of chaos are given the support they need.”
And the Association of School and College Leaders said the Government should offer ‘financial protection’ to schools affected, as well as additional funding to help pupils impacted by ‘lost learning’.
General secretary, Pepe Di’lasio, said
some schools with RAAC had seen a drop in pupil numbers as parents opted for a safer and less-disruptive learning environment for their children.
And, as schools are given funding per pupil, any drop in pupil numbers means a cut in income.
Di’lasio said: “Even small changes in pupil numbers can have significant implications for school budgets.
“This is a problem decades in the making and something that will be to the financial detriment of the schools affected for years to come.”
Department for Education (DfE) figures, as of February this year, show 234 schools and college in England are impacted by RAAC.
It placed around half of them on the School Rebuilding Programme, filling the final spots and dashing the hopes of other schools without RAAC which had applied for much-needed rebuilds.
The rest were told they would receive grant funding to remove the panels. n
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RSarah Outram, a legal director for law firm, VWV, outlines key considerations when refinancing schools’ property portfolios
efinancing a property portfolio is a strategic financial exercise that can bring substantial benefits to schools.
We have seen an increase in schools refinancing their portfolios over the past 12 months and, in some cases, making significant savings on repayments.
While interest rates are lower, refinancing can help with improved cash flow and enhanced funding for capital projects.
However, they require careful analysis and planning to navigate the complexities involved.
This article explores the key issues schools should consider when contemplating the refinancing of their property portfolios alongside the Charities Act 2011 requirements for schools that are charitable in nature.
Refinancing involves various legal and regulatory aspects.
Schools must ensure compliance with
relevant procedures (and Charities Act requirements if applicable). This includes understanding tax implications and any restrictions related to the use of the property.
Given the complexity of refinancing projects, schools should consider engaging other professional advisors at an early stage.
Financial consultants and advisors can provide invaluable assistance in evaluating options, negotiating terms, and
ensuring compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.
Engaging early with solicitors, too, can help navigate these complexities and ensure all legal requirements are met.
Depending on how complex the school site is, a charge can take some months to finalise. It is therefore important to plan ahead, particularly if there is a current legal charge with a maturity date.
Having conversations with an existing bank 6-12 months ahead of the proposed completion date is prudent.
We have seen an increase in schools refinancing their portfolios over the past 12 months and, in some cases, making significant savings on repayments
diligence as thoroughly as if it were purchasing the property. This means that it will require an independent survey of the school site and will want to undertake the usual searches including local authority and environmental and it will also require lengthy replies to Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE) to be provided.
The law firm acting for the school may also be instructed to act for the bank. However, the bank may have its own lawyers it wishes to use. In this case the school will be responsible for paying for the bank’s legal fees.
One of the key early steps is to check whether all of the school’s property is registered at the Land Registry and to note whether any of the freehold titles contain additional restrictions which would need to be considered on completion of a refinancing exercise. This could include consent required from a third party, or add complexity if the school site was held as permanent endowment or specie land.
The more titles a school has, the more complex the process can be and early conversations with the bank regarding the area over which the charge will be required can be helpful.
Looking at the title early also gives the legal advisors the opportunity to make any applications to the Land Registry that may be required to tidy up the registered titles.
At an early stage, it is sensible to start to pull together the regulatory and other paperwork which would need to be disclosed (for instance asbestos reports; planning documentation; fire safety; and details of any construction projects over the
repair and condition
Not making any material alterations or applying for planning consent without the consent of the bank
Keeping the property insured
This can be quite time consuming and starting to gather the information at the outset can be helpful to manage workloads of the bursar and estates team through the process.
If a bank has separate lawyers, there are often several sets of additional due diligence questions once the initial disclosures have been made. These aim to assist the lawyers in understanding the site so they are able to confirm that the bank would be able to obtain ‘good and marketable title’ if the school defaulted and the bank needed to repossess the property.
The additional enquiries often relate to third party occupiers, building work, or compliance with the statutory regulations (fire safety, for example).
Usually the bank will require a legal charge (or several if there are separate title numbers), a debenture, and may also require guarantees, depending on the structure of the school company.
The bank will have its own precedent documentation which cannot be amended save to reflect the corporate entity of the borrower. We typically need to make amendments to add Charities Act clauses.
Following completion of the loan, the bank will require a restriction to be put on the registered title to the property. This means that without the bank’s written consent you are unable to mortgage, sell, licence, lease, or share possession of the property.
The loan will also typically include a number of other requirements on the school including:
When granting security over land, a school, if it is a charity, must follow the procedures set out in section 124 of the Charities Act (restrictions on mortgages) in order to avoid the need for Charity Commission consent to the grant of the security.
The charity trustees are required to obtain and consider advice in writing on the following points before entering into a legal mortgage:
1. Whether the new facility is necessary for the purpose for which it is sought
2. Whether the terms of the proposed new facility are reasonable
3. Whether the school is able to repay the loan on the terms proposed
This advice must be from someone reasonably believed by the charity trustees to be qualified by his or her ability in, and practical experience of, financial matters, who has no financial interest in the legal mortgage or any other transaction in connection with it.
If a report is not obtained, the school would need to obtain an order from the Charity Commission to be able to complete the refinancing.
The trustees will need to hold a meeting to consider the report and then agree the terms of the loan, pass the Section 124 resolutions, and agree to enter into the various bank documents following which completion of the refinancing can take place.
Refinancing a property portfolio can provide schools with significant financial benefits, but it requires a significant investment in time and gathering information for the bank.
The process can be lengthy, but an early due diligence exercise can speed up the process. n
Jo
The valuation of a building or wider estate stands at the heart of all property decision making.
And this is no different in the education sector.
Whether a school is looking to add a new building to its estate; provide financial data for accounting purposes; give information to support a bid for additional capital; or sell off an existing asset — an accurate valuation is the starting point.
Initially, the valuer will ask what they are
valuing and the purpose of the valuation. They may need to value the whole school, surplus property, or only the playing fields.
Andrew Bowyer, a partner at Carter Jonas who has been dealing with education property valuations for 30 years, explains: “Valuations are an important part of my job and are required to account for an education provider’s assets in their financial returns.
“Academy trusts and universities, which are using public money, are accountable for that spending and need to show that they have got a valuable asset or assets.
“For academy trusts, which can operate two, three, or more schools, we generally provide valuations when they take on a new school or have a new building constructed for them.
“In contrast, for independent and private schools, we usually provide valuations when they are looking to raise finance or if they want to dispose of an asset within their property portfolio.”
Disposals have become more commonplace, and are expected to increase, as the market responds to the Government’s decision to remove the VAT exemption on private school fees from 1 January next year.
Academy trusts and universities, which are using public money, are accountable for that spending and need to show that they have a got a valuable asset or assets
“We have been approached by a number of schools around the UK to value their sites on the basis that annual pupils intake numbers are low, or predicted to be very low, following the VAT change,” said Bowyer.
“Inevitably some schools will fall as a result of this and we already know of a couple of private schools which are having to close, so they are looking to identify what their value is in the market, and not necessarily as a school.
“While the local authority will generally want to secure education sites for education use, there is the possibility of selling assets for other uses if the school can demonstrate there is a lack of demand.
“Some private schools, for example, are set in lovely country mansion houses and estates and these are popular among residential developers.
“In this case the valuation is crucial. The developer will want to know the building has been well maintained and is physically sound and in a good location.
“The valuer will look at everything from the physical buildings and amenity assets to playing fields and landscaping.”
Valuations are also sought by education providers if they are leasing property as they are used to underpin rent reviews.
According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), there are several approaches for valuing a school according to individual circumstances.
• Comparative method (market approach): Evidence of freehold and leasehold transactions of other schools and similar properties is analysed, adjusted, and applied to the subject property, usually on a per-square-metre basis. Adjustments would be made to reflect location, size, condition, any legal or planning restrictions, and facilities such as sports pitches.
• Profits method (income approach):
The valuer’s job is to assess the fair maintainable trade expected from the subject property, as a fully-equipped trading entity operated by a reasonablyefficient operator that is assumed to have a profit motive. The valuer then applies a capitalisation yield to their assessment of Fair Maintainable Operating Profit (FMOP), which is informed by market transactions. As with all properties valued on an income approach, knowledge of the trading performance of other schools which have been transacted is important when undertaking analysis of the year’s purchase (YP) multiple. It
Inevitably some schools will fall as a result of this and we already know of a couple of private schools which are having to close, so they are looking to identify what their value is in the market, and not necessarily as a school
is helpful to be involved in the market transactions, or have agency colleagues who are, in order to value trading schools
• Depreciated replacement cost (DRC), or cost approach: This is more commonly used for state schools, but may occasionally be adopted in financial reporting for a few independents, if the valuer considers that the property is of a scale or nature which has rarely, if ever, been traded in the open market. The approach is based on the current cost of building a modern equivalent replacement school, including acquiring a suitable site, less deductions for physical deterioration and all relevant forms of obsolescence and optimisation
• Residual method: Vacant school assets may be assessed having regard to market demand and pricing for a continuation of their existing use, as well as the so-called hope value for any higher-value alternative use or redevelopment potential. The valuer assesses the gross development value for a realistic redevelopment scheme and deducts development, finance, and sale costs and an appropriate developer’s profit. The residual land value is then adjusted for planning and other risks
• Reinstatement cost assessment (cost approach): It is a common misconception that the cost of rebuilding the school premises, which is used for insurance purposes, is similar to its market value. It is not, and the two figures are rarely close
Recent education valuations undertaken by Carter Jonas include advising the Haberdashers’ Company on its Grade II-listed former boarding houses, educational, and administrative buildings at one of its sites in the West Midlands.
Working alongside the company’s specialists in Oxford, the Birmingham valuations team was able to combine regional sector knowledge with accumulated years onsite to provide joinedup advice for the client.
And Savills, which is also active in the education valuations market, was recently instructed to value a state-of-the-art sixth form college in Ipswich which boasts a range of educational and vocational learning spaces, including mechanics workshop, hairdressing studio, and recording studios.
Providing a freehold value will help in the transfer of the college from the local authority to becoming an academy trust.
A spokesman said: “Every development project starts with a valuation.
“Determining financial viability is key to the initiation of a project — and getting that right is crucial.”
Bowyer adds: “Specialising in education valuations is quite a niche part of the sector. You need to have experience in selling schools and be aware of what has happened in the past and have an understanding of how the sector works and is evolving to give confidence in the valuation.” n
Glenigan research reveals continuing growth in the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector
As a new academic year approaches, the continuing growth in demand for student accommodation in Britain’s major cities is creating some significant opportunities for new construction work.
According to construction industry insight guru, Glenigan, in the three months to June of this year, student accommodation starts on site were worth £839m, 78% up on the same period a year ago and equivalent to 8% of all housing starts.
The potential for new work in the sector was underlined last month when Unite Group, the FTSE 100 company that is the largest student landlord, raised £450m from shareholders to invest in additional space.
A series of positive fundamentals are driving activity in the sector.
Unite points to the UK’s globallyrecognised higher education sector, a housing shortage, and high demand for university places for 18-25-year-olds.
As well as strong demand from international students, domestic demand is set to rise thanks to a 16% growth in the number of 18 year olds in the UK by 2030.
Unite’s development pipeline has grown to a record £1.5bn in what it says are ‘strong university markets’, including its first joint venture in the sector which it is doing with
Newcastle University.
The newly-raised funds will be used to acquire seven student housing units across Bristol, Cardiff, and Liverpool which need work.
Unite is also committing to two new schemes, with planning consent, in Bristol and Glasgow with a development cost of around £200m.
Meanwhile, the funds will also be used for two other student housing developments: a 444-bed, £170m scheme in Southwark due to be ready for the 2027/28 academic year; and another scheme in a ‘prime regional market’ with a development cost of around £110m.
Glenigan data provides details on numerous student accommodation schemes of varying sizes across the country where work is set to get underway.
In Leeds, for example, detailed plans have been granted and work is set to get underway this autumn on a £34.24m scheme of almost 200 student apartments at Kirkstall Road, where Brigade Central is the developer.
The purpose-built scheme of up to 10 storeys will involve over 6,500sq m of space and work is set to run for 20 months.
Moving south to Southampton, work on an £11.85m purpose-built scheme which includes a 5-6-storey building with nearly 250 bed spaces, and another building with
eight bed spaces is also due to get underway later this year.
The project at 119 High Street is set to run for 13 months.
Meanwhile, in Exeter, work is due to start this autumn on a £15m scheme in the city’s Longbrook Street which will provide accommodation for 97 students.
The project involves a floor area of some 180sq m and construction will run for 17 months.
Renovation schemes involving the conversion of existing business space into student accommodation space also offer opportunities for contractors.
In Manchester, detailed plans have been granted for an £80m scheme involving the redevelopment of The Hotspur Press site to provide student accommodation in buildings of up to 37 storeys.
The scheme could potentially start in the new year if delays due to an application for the building to be listed can be overcome.
On a smaller scale, detailed plans have been submitted for a £500,000 conversion of Burlington Arcade in Bournemouth to student halls of residence as part of a scheme that is set to start early next year. n
Nearly a third of developers — 31% — have been withholding capital in order to remain flexible in the face of economic uncertainty, according to recent research from Shawbrook.
The same proportion also stated that they have withheld capital to cover any unforeseen costs.
Clearly developers are watching economic headwinds closely, with 36% saying they have closely monitored trends to ensure their projects meet current demand, and a third have focused their developments in areas that are seeing higher activity.
It is also promising that 32% of developers surveyed have been able to take on new developments, and 31% have diversified their investments, giving an insight into the sector’s ability to adapt and alter their strategies to maintain progress and profit.
To mitigate uncertainty, 30% of developers stated they have worked with a lender to secure additional funding.
Terry Woodley, managing director of development finance at Shawbrook, said: “Economic challenges and considerations such as rising costs have been key concerns for developers over the past 12 months.
“However, we have seen the agility of the sector in evidence, with many developers diversifying their strategies to mitigate any impact and navigate their businesses through a tricky period.
“As well as changing property types, and making changes to materials, locations, and other core elements of their plans, developers have shown an ability to monitor market demands and effectively tailor their projects to futureproof their businesses.
“However, with the new Government putting housing high on the agenda, and house builder shares on the up since the General Election, the outlook appears positive and developers should have more opportunities to unleash their capital.”
More than 550,000sq ft of educational space is being sought across England as nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities look to expand.
LocatED, the Government-owned education property advisory firm, has published its latest list of live site requirements for 2024.
Incorporated in 2016, LocatED was established to buy and develop sites for the Government’s Free Schools Programme and has a framework agreement with the Department for Education.
It has individual acquisition budgets to spend on sites that can deliver 10,000175,000sq ft of gross internal floor area on brownfield, greenfield, and mixed-use sites as well as in existing buildings that can satisfy size requirements, making it one of
A further 69,000sq ft of floorspace is needed in London and 60,000sq ft in the Midlands and East Anglia.
In the North, sites are being sought in Durham, East Leeds, and Keighley, while in the South, developments are needed in Crawley, Devon, Southampton, and Bristol.
In London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Camden, Canary Wharf, and Merton are all potential sites for new developments, while in the Midlands, works are earmarked for Nottingham and Bolsover.
Possible sites could include whole or part buildings with development or extension capacity, land and development sites on or off market, derelict and heritage buildings, and space on wider developments.
N Family Club reveals its plans to increase its property portfolio and discusses what it looks for in a suitable site
In its pre-election manifesto, Labour pledged to create 100,000 additional childcare places and more than 3,000 new nurseries as part of a wide-reaching childcare plan.
And it said it would turn classrooms in existing primary schools into ‘school-based nurseries’ for an estimated cost of around £40,000 per classroom.
And this is having an impact on the property market, with nursery groups, both new and established, looking for suitable development sites or exiting buildings which they can purchase or lease.
In this article, Jo Makosinski speaks to Aaron Grainger, head of expansion at N Family Club, about its expansion plans and the key things it looks for when seeking new locations.
What are the key drivers for investment in new properties or expansion of existing sites?
When we select a location for a new nursery there are a huge range of considerations including population levels (specifically 0-4 year olds), team recruitment viability, and the local nursery market.
These are the things which tell us if an area is one we should be considering before we hone in on the location-specific matters, trying to answer questions such as where is the building located in relation to the local residential areas? And how convenient is it for our families and team to
All of the sites we look at are different, which keeps the site evaluation process interesting, even more so when factoring in a major change in an area such as a large-scale residential development or a new station opening as we’ve seen with the launch of the Elizabeth Line.
What is your process when looking to acquire new sites?
Sites are introduced to myself and then if of
All of the sites we look at are different, which keeps the site evaluation process interesting, even more so when factoring in a major change in an area such as a largescale residential development or a new station opening as we’ve seen with the launch of the Elizabeth Line
area before inspecting to get a feel for the property and the area/location.
If it passes the initial viability, then I’ll work with our in-house design and construction team to assess viability in terms of number of places and anticipated CAPEX costs, following which it will be discussed informally internally.
If still of interest, then a deal will be worked up, inspections undertaken by my colleagues to confirm the earlier assumptions on places and CAPEX, and then it will be taken to Investment Committee sign off.
and the whole process commonly takes
two months on relatively-straightforward sites — if there are planning or other considerations these can obviously complicate matters and increase this timeframe, but we’ll always be upfront and honest with our partners on this.
Do you have a long-term plan for acquisitions/expansion?
We’re currently still very much in growth mode and expecting to end the year with 39 nurseries up and running — our initial growth plan is to have 70 nurseries by 2027 and the current focus is on organic growth
Beyond that is still being considered.
However, we definitely feel there is the potential to kick on again once we’ve realised our initial target.
How do you finance deals?
At N Family we have secured an external funding partner which has provided us with what we need to achieve the initial target of 70 nurseries by 2027.
As a company we only take leasehold interests in property so we don’t tie up capital in purchasing and retaining freehold properties. However, we have a number of partners that we work with regularly which
Christie & Co has announced the sale of Rowley Village Nursery in Rowley Regis, West Midlands.
Rowley Village Nursery is an established children’s day nursery with a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating and the capacity to care for up to 66 children.
It occupies a deceptively-large property on a corner plot, with bright gates and a large frontage, making it an attractive and noticeable nursery for potential parents. It was previously owned by Pranay Paw, a local hotelier who decided to sell to concentrate on his other business ventures.
Following a confidential sales process with Jassi Sunner at Christie & Co, the setting has been purchased by Little Scallywags Day Nursery Ltd, a family group with parents, sons, and daughters all involved in the business in various roles.
This will be the group’s eighth setting and the new owners have already begun refurbishing the site with a view to reopening it this month.
Emma Williams, director at Little Scallywags Day Nursery Ltd, said: “On viewing Rowley village, we immediately saw the great potential it had for growth.
“After meeting the staff, children, and parents, we shared our vision for the future of Rowley Village and its refurb is
Sunner adds: “Shortly after going to market, we had 11 genuine interested parties, followed by seven fruitful viewings and multiple offers submitted.
“Pranay was quick to accept the offer from Little Scallywags due to its experience in the sector and ability to complete the sale
“The sale is a great example of the growth we continue to see from regional groups in the Midlands and the general positivity the market has alongside the changes in funding already in place and due to land later this year.”
Rowley Village Nursery was sold for an undisclosed price.
Global Banking School (GBS) has secured 69,000sq ft at 1 Brindleyplace in Birmingham, marking the largest traditional office lease in the location in more than a decade.
The higher education provider has signed a 15-year lease for the entire building with Macquarie Asset Management, advised by CBRE.
Part of Global Education (GEDU), GBS operates 10 campuses across London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester, serving over 30,000 students.
Initially founded in 2010 as a specialist training centre for finance and investment banking, GBS now offers vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate programmes in finance, accounting, business, construction, tourism, and healthcare.
1 Brindleyplace will be GBS’s third campus
in Birmingham, joining locations at Fazeley Studios in Digbeth and Norfolk House on Smallbrook Queensway.
James Kennedy, deputy chief executive of GBS, said: “At GBS, we are working to deliver on the GEDU goal of changing lives through education.
“We offer students unparalleled flexibility to complete their studies within their already busy personal and professional lives, enabling them to take that next step in their careers.
“This expanded footprint will allow us to even better serve the Birmingham community, a city in which we are proud to have a presence.”
Theo Holmes, senior director and head of office agency at CBRE in Birmingham, advised Macquarie on the letting.
He said: “The education sector is particularly active in the office market,
with several notable deals in the last 18 months, including QAHE’s 45,000sq ft letting at Louisa Ryland House; Arden University taking an additional 24,000sq ft in Crossway House; and University College Birmingham’s acquisition of 45,000sq ft at Baskerville House.
“The repurposing of office space for education use is a trend that is continuing to gather pace in Birmingham.
“Space requirements of education providers are very similar to office occupiers.
“When coupled with access to local amenities and good transport links, it’s easy to see why an increasing number are choosing this route to establish and expand their campuses in the city.
“Brindleyplace provides the perfect campus location, offering good-quality accommodation and affordable rents, within a safe, managed environment.”
Christie & Co has announced the sale of Hollies Day Nurseries in Nottingham.
Established for over 30 years, Hollies Day Nurseries is a family-run group of five day nurseries located across Sherwood, Arnold, Mapperley, and West Bridgford.
The nurseries are renowned within the surrounding areas for offering premium childcare and education from five impressive properties all in visible soughtafter trading locations.
All settings enjoy either ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted ratings and have a strong emphasis on using natural materials and nature-based play, incorporating the Reggio approach into their curriculum, and delivering Forest School sessions provided by qualified Forest School leaders.
All the nurseries are run under management with long-serving staff teams and the support of a head office function.
The group has been owned by Andrew and Becky Pike for the last 32 years.
Following a sales process handled by Jassi Sunner and David Eaves at Christie & Co, the group has been purchased by Kids Planet Day Nurseries, which now owns over 200 nurseries across the UK.
presence in the Nottingham area.
“Hollies’ focus on inspiring learning environments is closely aligned with our own approach and we look forward to working with the teams and families moving forward.
. The freehold sale of Sheen Montessori Nursery has been announced.
Established in 2011 by husband-and-wife team, Steve McNicol and Fiona Macleod, Sheen Montessori has steadily grown to become the go-to Montessori nursery in Sheen, South West London.
Their Montessori pedagogy recognises that each child learns in a different way, taking a different path and travelling at a different pace, so they designed the nursery to encourage curiosity and discovery among the children that attend.
Macleod started the nursery when they had their own children and has continued to work alongside the manager to create the business.
At any one time, this Ofstedrated ‘Outstanding’ nursery takes up to 60 children and was purpose built to provide bright, light-filled rooms for the children to enjoy across two floors.
The nursery also benefits from unrivalled access to
recently decided to sell to retire from the sector to spend time with their family.
Following a confidential sales process with Sophie Willcox at Christie & Co, and with funding sourced through Alena Ray at Christie Finance, the nursery has been purchased by SMART Preschool Education Ltd, which owns another setting in Southfields.
Antonietta Hibberd and Tatiana Carvalho, directors at
“Our aim is to create a great home for high-quality independent preschools, each maintaining their own unique identity and expertise.”
Willcox added: “Sheen Montessori is a truly wonderful setting that exudes quality and calmness.
“I knew it would be an attractive proposition for a new owner and I am excited to see what Philip and Allan do with the business
only preschools, and I knew it would be of interest to SMART Preschools.”
Alena Ray, director at Christie Finance, said: “We completed the acquisition in three and a half months which is a quick turnaround in the current climate, but this is attributable to Philip and Allan for their confidence in me and their attention to detail.”
Sheen Montessori Nursery was sold for an undisclosed price.
St George’s Edinburgh is selling Lansdowne House which sits on a 2.2acre plot in Murrayfield in order to fund a new building within the grounds of the main school.
The independent boarding, nursery, and day school for girls aged 3-18 is undertaking a modernisation programme which involves relocating the lower school campus from the Lansdown site to the main campus in time for the 2025/26 academic year.
Lansdowne House was built in 1875 as a private dwelling. It is category C-listed, has an original lodge house, stone boundary wall, and gate piers.
The property also includes modern extensions, an original stable building, and two sports pitches.
Savills has been appointed to oversee the sale.
Danielle Corker, associate director at Savills in Edinburgh, said: “This must be one of the most-attractive residential development opportunities on the market in Scotland.
“While we anticipate Lansdowne will be hotly contested, we will prioritise finding the right buyer who will respect the history and legacy of the site and the wider local community.
“Savills Planning has submitted a preapplication enquiry to Edinburgh City Council, but necessary permissions will be required to be met in respect of listed status, design, amenity, open space, and parking.”
Carol Chandler-Thompson, head of St George’s School, added: “It is of great importance to us to honour our school’s past and to balance maintaining a beautiful, historic campus, with ensuring St George’s offers the best 21st-century educational environment.
“We have a carefully-considered, pro-active future strategy to ensure we constantly improve all aspects of our school and school experience.
“The history of Lansdowne House as a stand-alone school, and indeed as part of St George’s, is a highly-valued part of local and school history and we are fully committed to keeping the fabric and legacy of Lansdowne House part of our identity as we move forward.
A Suffolk-based education trust has moved into new headquarters in time for the start of the new academic year.
Unity Schools Partnership has relocated its headquarters within Haverhill from the former Parkway Middle School site in Park Road to a modern building in Homefield Road on the southern edge of the town. Eddisons acted as sole agent on behalf of the landlord in the lettings deal, which sees the trust take a new lease on 6,187sq ft of accommodation in a property that forms part of a small development of commercial premises known as ‘The Roadside’.
The building had previously been in use as a daycare nursery for young children.
Unity Schools Partnership had been
seeking more-suitable, modern premises within Haverhill in which to relocate its head office operations for a number of months before securing its new base.
Tim Coulson, chief executive of Unity Schools Partnership, said: “We had long identified the need to move the head
“However, currently being split across two sites causes logistical challenges and increased costs of maintenance.
“The Lansdowne building is beautiful, but facilities like this are very difficult to renovate and suitably equip with sustainable and modern technology.
“As the house ages, its ongoing maintenance becomes ever more impractical and expensive.
“The new building’s design will reflect the importance St George’s has long placed upon developing the pupils’ skills for the future: problem solving, teamworking, generating creative solutions, testing hypotheses, and using their voice to communicate ideas to peers and wider audiences.”
office of the trust.
“We wanted something that would be more befitting our agile and growing organisation, while remaining in our home town of Haverhill.
“We are delighted with the new facilities offered at Homefield Road. They are a great base for our central team as well as providing ample space for meetings of all sizes.”
Speaking about the letting of the Homefield Road premises, Eddisons’ Ben Green added: “The trust has an established association with Haverhill and we’re happy to have played our part, on behalf of the landlord, in securing it as the new — and very suitable — tenant for the property.”
American-Chinese private educational institution, Sias, has purchased St Michael’s College in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, which will reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic forced its closure in June 2020 due to its international pupils being unable to travel, Worcester News has reported.
The former boarding school will reopen as a private school offering day school and boarding for secondary education from Year 9 upwards, as well as sixth form education for UK and international students.
Commercial property estate agent, Fisher German, facilitated the sale of the 22.76-acre site which included the Grade IIlisted main building and 13 other buildings including the former said: “It is a very-attractive site
“We will be opening a high-
quality private school open to both UK and international students and intend on making our fees affordable for those within the local community.
“The school has not been in use for a number of years and we now have a significant amount of work to do to refurbish the site ahead of opening in September 2025.
“We aim to become a major employer in the area and will soon be engaging with the local community in order to fill a wide variety of vacancies at the school.”
St Michael’s College was founded in 1856 as a choir school for boys.
Financial difficulties forced the school’s closure in 1985, before it reopened in 1990 as an independent international boarding school.
Independent boarding and day school, Kilgraston School in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, has closed after education provider, Achieve Education, ‘reassessed its commitment to investing in the school’, the BBC has reported.
Founded in 1930, Kilgraston employed 116 staff and taught approximately 170 pupils.
It offered primary education for boys and girls aged from 5-12 years old and girls only from 5-18.
Boarding was also available for girls only aged eight years and above.
Despite launching a £2m fundraising campaign last year, the school stated it had a short- and long-term funding deficit and was facing a shortfall of about £860,000 for the forthcoming academic year.
A spokesperson for Kilgraston’s board of trustees said: “Last year was extremely difficult for the Kilgraston community as we faced significant challenges to keep the school open.
“Education provider, Achieve Education, stepped in to financially support and manage the school in the short term and to
a letter to parents it said that Achieve’s chairman was suffering from ill health, leading him to reconsider the purchase.
Kilgraston’s spokesperson said: “At this point, we have three priorities: the welfare of
“We will do all we can to help ensure a smooth transition for all affected.
“We are very sorry not to be able to continue operating a school that is close to all our hearts.”
TProperty consultant, Trevor Nicholson, is spearheading a fresh approach to the way UK education estates projects are managed. Here, he speaks to Education Property editor, Jo Makosinski.
revor Nicholson was formerly a director at Hamptons International and later a director and head of placemaking at CBRE London.
His work with architects and consultants such as Ove Arup, Will Alsop, Glenn Howells, Gardner + Theobalds, and Barton Willmore from the early stages of masterplanning to handover for educational projects has given him a unique insight into
this very-specialist sector.
And he is now spearheading a fresh approach to the management of education estates projects through the introduction of ‘client representatives’ (CRs).
Originally from the US, it is a new concept that relieves bursars and property managers of the management and skills burden they tend to inherit when a school embarks on complex new building programmes.
Schools are conscious that they are expecting their bursar to take responsibility for multi-millionpound construction budgets, and run a team of professionals whose individual disciplines are often completely alien to them
“Basically, the CR role has evolved because schools don’t usually have people with large-scale property and construction experience on their payroll,” explains Nicholson.
“The head of estates might have a surveying background at best, but is unlikely to have major project experience.
“Schools are conscious that they are expecting their bursar to take responsibility for multi-million-pound construction budgets, and run a team of professionals whose individual disciplines are often completely alien to them, usually relying on a friendly architect to ‘do everything on the hoof’.”
He added: “If someone is spending lots of money building something, there are any number of times and stages of the development where they can get tripped up.
“School bursars, governors, estates managers, and headteachers just don’t have the time or experience to oversee all the people involved in a construction project.
“If a construction manager said they had put the roof on the building and does the school’s bursar want to see it, the bursar might go and look and say ‘yes, it’s flat’, or ‘yes it has tiles on it’, but they are probably not equipped to be able to inspect it and check the quality of the work.
“The client needs to know that every element of the project is being checked, and that’s key.
“Our role is to sit between the client and the people providing the service to make sure it runs smoothly and they are getting what they are paying for.”
Under Nicholson’s approach, all consultants are directly appointed by the school so that Designers Collateral Warranties sit directly with them.
However, it is Nicholson’s team who will liaise and oversee the entire delivery group, which can include in excess of a dozen different organisations, such as the architect, quantity surveyor, project manager, contract administrator, structural engineer, civil engineer, mechanical and electrical contractor, construction design management, specialist catering consultant, landscape designer, building control consultant, and planning consultant.
“Through this process, there is still head of design team, which will usually be the architect, and most UK schools have very good relationships with architects, but what changes with this approach is that the whole team reports to the Client Representative.
“We are not trying to upset architects by muscling in on their role — just the opposite — they still have the same design work to do and can be just as creative, but our input relieves them of that tedious compliance relationship with the client.
“Architects tend to get dragged into that as there is no one else on the team who does it, so rather than being a threat, we should be seen as a help.”
And he claims there are significant savings to be made.
“Using a CR need not put the cost up,” he explains.
“We tend to charge 2% of the overall programme budget, but there are a lot of ways in which bringing us in saves money.
“A typical large school construction project, such as a sports hall or dining room, can take more than two years from concept to completion, and one of our biggest roles is to keep projects on track. After all, time is money, and every month a project goes over time costs a fortune.
“Overall, a consultancy team is charging around 15% of a project budget. We are 2%
Capital projects on campus are never straightforward, but our aim is to remove the risk of wasted funds and executive time by constant scrutiny of the nuts and bolts
of that and are making sure that every part of the project runs smoothly and taking the pressure off those whose job it is to run the school, nursery, or university.”
Dispute resolution is also a key role for the CR.
Nicholson said: “We work with the aim of running the contract so tightly that no disputes occur, and we act as the client rather than a member of the professional team who may be conflicted if there is a disagreement.
“A typical educational client is unlikely to recognise a breach until it is too late, risking unnecessary legal fees, and it is usually way beyond a school employee’s remit to be held accountable for such significant expenditure.
“Capital projects on campus are never straightforward, but our aim is to remove the risk of wasted funds and executive time by constant scrutiny of the nuts and bolts.” n
Tom Kennedy, a director at Kennedy Woods Architecture, outlines how he worked with German nursery group, Kinderzimmer, as it started to scale across the UK
As part of its childcare plan, Labour has pledged to create 100,000 additional childcare places and more than 3,000 new nurseries.
Pair this with 15 free hours of childcare per week, and things seem to be heading in the right direction.
According to the Department for Education, 40,000 additional staff are needed to fulfil this pledge by next September, with experts warning that funding without an effective recruitment drive will be a bandaid solution.
Nurseries across the UK find themselves confronting a frustrating paradox — they lack the staff to capitalise on the growing market demand, driven in part by financial support from the Government.
In the face of these challenges, a strategy focused on growth could seem counterintuitive, but since 2016 Kennedy Woods Architecture has worked with some of the best nursery groups in the industry, helping them to launch new sites fast and
scale smoothly.
We designed 25 schools for N Family Club and, more recently, worked with German nursery group, Kinderzimmer, as it started to scale across the UK.
Kinderzimmer UK chief executive, Vishav Roma, explains the challenge: “Several issues have been brewing in the sector over the past few years, with talent being a major concern.
“The talent shortage can be attributed to two main factors. First, the COVID-19 pandemic put such a strain on nurseries, especially smaller or independent ones, that it became challenging to offer competitive pay and benefits, turning what was already more of a vocation than a career into an even-less-appealing option.
“As a result, some professionals reevaluated their choices and left the sector.
“Second, the number of people pursuing early childhood education degrees has declined, with more professionals leaving the field and fewer new entrants.”
Roma realised he needed to offer more to attract great talent.
And, with a bold vision of opening 50 schools in five years, Kinderzimmer offers its employees the chance to develop their careers as the company grows.
Roma says: “What makes us unique, and one of the most-exciting businesses in the sector, is our rapid growth.
“It’s led to significant advances in people development, ongoing professional development, and the creation of early years jobs that are rare in this industry.”
With the principles of its employee culture clear, the Kinderzimmer team focused with equal rigour on the interior design and functionality of its spaces.
The company contacted Kennedy Woods Architecture to explore what parts of Kinderzimmer’s original brand DNA would resonate with the UK market, what should be changed or adapted, and how the process could be designed to allow it to swiftly scale across London.
“I don’t think the role of design can be overstated in what we’ve accomplished, Roma explains.
“It’s absolutely critical to our growth, to everything we do, to our operations, and to our strategy.
“Our approach was to create nurseries that fit with everything we do, and the meticulous attention we pay to every detail, whether in new or old buildings, reflects our dedication to creating a joyful experience and one that is bespoke to our curriculum.”
Initial workshops involved the entire senior team at the Kennedy Woods studio.
Physical models of existing schools were poured over, looking for potential improvements that could come with a fresh slate.
Soon, brand guidelines were established, and the growth plan was set in motion.
With the design direction and strategy set, Kinderzimmer launched its first seven sites, with another three in the pipeline for the end of this year.
Kinderzimmer’s preference for ‘landmark’ buildings has meant that, while set interior design standards provide brand and operational continuity and a consistent user experience, the Kennedy Woods team had the added challenge of carefully adapting these in a way that also celebrates what’s special about each building.
Working closely as a client-architect team has meant lessons learned from each new site have been carried forward into the next.
And data on employee wellbeing, parent satisfaction, and child happiness have
With the sector seeing so much activity, we’ve now set up a service specially tailored to help education brands grow
driven a continual process of iterative improvement and refinement.
Roma states: “Design is constant; you continuously evolve, iterate, and make nuanced changes.
“When you reach a certain point, it’s about those incremental percentage wins at each site.
“By the end of the year, you realise that this year’s improvements are much better than last year’s.
“And the data from operations and feedback from members help us improve outcomes.
“This iterative, collaborative process of capturing data and applying it to our designs never really ends. It continues to evolve, hopefully creating better spaces over time.”
With seven schools opened within a year, Roma and the Kinderzimmer team have much to celebrate.
However, they remain mindful of their broader goal ahead and continue to reflect on improving their approach.
“Our most-significant lessons are expected to emerge over the next two years,” Roma explains.
have created approximately 1,000 new childcare places.
“And, as our occupancy increases, we’ll start learning more lessons.”
Working with Kinderzimmer has been a fast-paced and exciting experience.
With the sector seeing so much activity, we’ve now set up a service specially tailored to help education brands grow.
It’s called Journey to Thirty, and focuses on three key areas:
• Getting buy-in from potential partners and investors with an inspiring and clearly-communicated multi-site strategy document
• Developing designs for every user touchpoint to create a distinctive, trustworthy nursery brand. This can include graphic identity, wayfinding, and product development
• Helping clients move fast on potential sites, ensuring decisions are locked in early so every new nursery feels part of the family n
Jo Makosinski speaks to Douglas Craven of LSI Architects about the design approach to the remodelling and refurbishment of the former Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC building to create a state-of-the-art new home for Ada, The National College for Digital Skills
Q: Can you tell us about the background of this project and how it came about?
A: The project really started after our previous work with Ada College at its Tottenham Hale location.
Unfortunately, that scheme wasn’t taken forward due to complications and various constraints.
Since then, the Tottenham facilities had become outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
So, when the opportunity arose to remodel the Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC after it closed in 2022, it was a great chance to create a new home for Ada, The
National College for Digital Skills.
The new facilities are spread over five floors, with a variety of spaces which will support 400 sixth form students and an additional 240 industry placement students each year.
Q: Ada College has a unique mission. How did the design align with its goals?
A: Ada College is named after Ada Lovelace, one of the first computer programmers and it focuses on empowering the next generation of digital talent, with a particular emphasis on women and individuals from low-income backgrounds.
Inclusivity is at the heart of what it does. From the start, our goal was to create a vibrant and inclusive space that reflects the college’s core values and the scheme has prioritised transparency, collaboration, and integration of technology to reflect the college’s digital ethos.
Q: What were the main design challenges you faced?
A: One of the biggest challenges was addressing the brief set by the Department for Education, which required us to include a sports hall to meet curriculum requirements.
At the same time, Ada College needed a large lecture hall and cinema screen for its digital programmes.
The solution was a flexible, shared space with retractable seating. We also installed a new bulkhead and false wall to ensure that the space remains safe and compliant, even during sports sessions.
Q: Could you talk about some of the standout features of the building?
A: We wanted to blur the lines between education and work, much like in the realworld tech industry.
I believe we achieved this really successfully with extensive use of internal glazing, in particular creating spaces that really respond to the requirement for collaboration and transparency.
It allows anyone in the building to observe the teaching and learning happening at any time and is a visual celebration of the building’s purpose.
The flexible break-out pods and spaces around the main stair core promote the theme of collaboration and are an effective way to maintain that sense of openness.
There’s an open foyer with a Learning Resource Centre and meeting areas, aiming to provide a space that merges education and professional engagement.
We also converted the engineering workshops into IT suites, lecture theatres replaced traditional classrooms, and we added a roof terrace with fantastic views over London, including Battersea Power Station, which now serves as a really-useful outdoor teaching space.
Q: What sustainability measures were taken during the refurbishment?
A: Since it was an internal refurbishment, sustainability was a natural focus.
We were mindful of energy use, especially with all the digital equipment in the building and we added more solar PV panels to account for the additional demand.
We also we worked closely with the Department for Education to secure funding to renew the green roof, which had previously failed but is now a fullyfunctional part of the building’s ecofriendly infrastructure.
Q: How did you ensure efficiency and reduce risk during the design process?
A: Early engagement, quality of initial design output, and consistent transparency were key components we employed to drive value.
By forming early relationships with product suppliers, sub-contractors, and installation teams, we were able to bring crisp, effective thinking to our early concepts and refine them into the detailed design.
Being able to establish costs and value early on was really beneficial in terms of reducing uncertainty and risk.
We also led the process of using a refurbishment schedule of works tool provided by the brief. This allowed us to drill down into each space, both at a micro and macro scale, combined with exploratory site visits.
Feeding this information into our digital
funding and value were best directed and where improved solutions were more appropriate.
Q: How did the use of digital tools benefit the design and project management?
A: Working within a 3D digital model environment from concept to project completion is consistent across our education sector projects.
It offers immense benefits in terms of accuracy, collaboration with the wider design team, and visualising design challenges with the client.
This approach allowed us to test conceptual ideas with certainty, reducing project costs and ensuring the solutions were feasible from a technical standpoint.
Q: How do you feel about the outcome of the project?
A: I’m really passionate about education design, and this project has been especially fulfilling.
For me, it’s not just about the materiality of the building.
The new facilities at Ada College embody a real sense of community, collaboration, and transparency.
They have massively improved the college’s offering and I believe the building will make a big impact on both students and staff.
It has been a great project to be a part of. n
Exploring the role of outdoor spaces in educational establishments and how they can provide opportunities for learning and enhance wellbeing
It’s a well-documented, well-researched fact that play areas enrich the lives of children.
And their decline over recent years is one of the reasons for the growing physical and mental health issues among young people in our communities.
So, while the design of educational buildings rightly attracts much interest, so too should the design of the outside spaces within these estates.
Barry Leahey MBE, president of Playdale Playgrounds and an education play expert, told Education Property: “Outside space, and play areas in particular, are crucial for the health and socialisation of our children.
“But the number of new housing developments near parks has shrunk by 40% in recent years, meaning many children’s primary access to a play area is through school.
“Play areas improve the motor skills
of children, teach them to socialise with others, rise to new challenges, and keep them physically active — something which has never been more important, with 234 of every 1,000 children aged 10-11 now obese in the UK.”
Fred Mow, design manager at Community Playthings, added: “Children have a right to learn and play outdoors.
It is good for social and emotional wellbeing and confidence building and provides more-organic opportunities for children to navigate risk and build risk assessment skills.”
However, many outdoor spaces within schools are underutilised and underdeveloped — often flat, boring spaces which rely on fixed structures, with little opportunity for different types of play or learning.
Mow said: “We need children to be outdoors and be engaged outdoors.
“Outdoor art, construction, and
…the number of new housing developments near parks has shrunk by 40% in recent years, meaning many children’s primary access to a play area is through school
woodwork provide stimulating activities within the environment that engage children for significant lengths of time.
“We also need to provide more loose parts, giving the opportunity for children to be creative and engage in open-ended play.
“Schools can provide a mix of activities: blocks, water play, dramatic play, balance and gross motor skills (pushing, pulling, lifting), and they must give teachers the room, and permission, to help children engage in different types of play.”
Climbing frames, for example, test the motor functions of children, teaching them about their limits and aiding their ability to properly manage risk.
And enclosed slides can help children conquer their anxieties around dark, enclosed spaces — rewarding them with an exhilarating activity that builds confidence; while seesaws teach collaborative play.
For pupils with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), in particular, play areas are a critical learning tool.
A spokesman for ESP Play said: “Creating a playground where children of all abilities can play and learn together is vital for schools that want to be inclusive.
“When looking to make improvements to your outdoor spaces, it’s important to choose SEND playground equipment that caters for a range of different pupils’ needs, so that every child is able to take part in play and reap the many benefits it offers.
“Equipment like nest swings, wheelchairaccessible picnic tables, sensory forest huts, wheelchair-accessible mud kitchens, Braille alphabet boards, wheelchairaccessible swings, and outdoor percussion instruments ensure that children with special educational needs and disabilities have the same opportunities to play, learn, and grow as their peers.”
Sustainability is also key to design, with natural materials better for the environment and a learning tool to teach children about the need to care for the planet.
Mow explains: “There is demand for tidy, sustainable, natural, and durable outdoor products which support creativity and construction without cluttering and degrading the outdoor space.
“We encourage settings to nurture whatever natural assets they have — like grass, mud, and puddles — and to keep as many natural elements as possible.
“Astroturf is the habitat for nothing. It is better to get crates and loose parts that can be moved around — and get planting!”
Leahey adds: “Play areas that are built to last and made from recyclable materials that can be replenished are key to making play areas more sustainable.
“Materials such as sustainably-sourced
when designing educational play and learning areas.
Leahey explains: “Children pushing their physical capabilities is what playgrounds are all about, but children should never fall or trip due to faulty or unsafe equipment.
“This is why play equipment should be properly scoped for its recommended age range and proper surfacing should be chosen to soften falls.
“Some floor surfaces used in play areas, such as wood chips, are not appropriate for wheelchair users and those with mobility issues who struggle on uneven terrain. This is just one example of the many considerations when designing a safe outdoor space that is also accessible.”
To address these safety concerns, manufacturers have refined their design processes in recent years.
Leahey said: “Safety innovations have continued, as well as the development of new play equipment which better fits the needs of children who require further accessibility.
“New standards have also been published
to ensure the safety of all children using play equipment and we believe all play equipment must be independently tested by the British Standards Institution or TUV to ensure safety.”
Offering advice to specifiers, Mow said: “It is important to provide a range of different kinds of play opportunities, especially for open-ended play, and make the area as natural as possible.
“Schools should consider partnering with someone with expertise in designing outdoor spaces and should look for products that are designed to endure outdoors and not become unsafe through rapid deterioration.” n
Schools should consider partnering with someone with expertise in designing outdoor spaces and should look for products that are designed to endure outdoors and not become unsafe through rapid deterioration
Parents at a Glasgow Primary School have launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise the funds to buy an old subway carriage for the playground.
The £5,000 fundraising bid was set up by the Parent Council at Ibrox Primary School and will cover the cost of transporting the Glasgow ‘Clockwork Orange’ Subway carriage from storage to the playground.
Around 20 of the carriages are being put up for sale for community and not-for-profit organisations and Ibrox Primary believes it could be used as an outdoor teaching space as well as providing a link between the school and the local area.
The fundraiser, by Parent Council appeal organiser, Dawn Ottley, states: “As a school community, we were extremely excited about the idea of acquiring one of these and positioning it in our school playground.
“This resource would certainly be the first-of-a-kind in the city and invaluable for our pupils.
“It would help to make our playground a more-exciting and stimulating place for everyone.”
A calm breakout space
• A space for children to help regulate emotions
• An outdoor teaching area/library space for storytime
• A link with the local area’s history with Ibrox having its own Subway station
stages — literacy, numeracy, social studies, history, to name a few
• A way of teaching the children the value of respect (one of the school’s values) and the importance of looking after property and heritage
• Keeping the subway carriages in the city where they belong
• A resource to develop the young workforce and future career aspirations, i.e. “I would love to be a train driver when I grow up”
• A resource to explore and link to all aspects of the curriculum for all ages and
Bright Horizons’ Tudor House Burgess Hill Day Nursery and Preschool recently welcomed families for a tea party to officially open the nursery’s newlyrefurbished garden area.
A 12-month garden project has transformed the outdoor space at the nursery in Gloucester Road, Burgess Hill.
Designed by Bright Horizons’ in-house designer, Tara Yeandel, the newlyrefurbished garden is now an attractive learning and play area for children, featuring a mud kitchen area with a planter and mud container, a captivating water wall feature, and a playhouse surrounded by planters.
These additions provide children with opportunities to engage in exploratory play and connect with nature.
And the nursery will undertake elements of Nature Kindergarten such as identifying different species of plants, trees, insects, and learning about sustainability in a natural environment.
The money will be used to cover the cost of transporting, positioning, and securing the carriage at the school.
So far, Ibrox Primary School has raised just over £3,000.
and development.”
“Our dedicated practitioners nurture the whole child, recognising that emotional wellbeing and secure attachments provide the foundations for children’s learning
John Butler, director of finance at Bright Horizons UK, said: “Our Nurture Approach is with, teaching, and caring for children in all our nurseries.
The garden refurbishment at Tudor House aligns with Bright Horizons’ wider Future Earth Agenda, which promotes sustainable practices and encourages early years learning about the environment.
The equipment was installed by KentLincs.
Profiling the launch of the National Alliance of School Premises Managers and its aim to support education estates and facilities managers to drive compliance
The National Alliance of School Premises Managers (NASPM) launched earlier this year with the mission to ‘provide school and premises teams and leadership staff with assurance in complete school health, safety, and estates management’.
NASPM supplies a whole range of premises-related resources, including essential training for premises staff and other key employees, such as school business managers, senior leadership teams, and school governors.
Resources include time-saving documentation and systems templates that members can use to make sure their schools conform to best practice and remain compliant with legislation.
The alliance effectively becomes an additional, professional, and competent person to guide, assist, and give assurance to schools, when needed.
Stuart McGregor, the alliance’s director of operations, identified the lack of support premises staff often face when dealing with complex and important matters in the management of school health, safety, and estates compliance.
Having been a premises manager, he recognised that the lack of a national premises network and appropriate national standards to support premises teams and estates at a school level had never been addressed until now.
Speaking to Education Property, McGregor explains: “The alliance has been established to provide direct support to school premises managers and leadership teams.
“It supplies the school with a whole range
of tools to use to make sure that, when carrying out their role, they will remain compliant with relevant legislation.
“The service is delivered by knowledgeable and experienced professionals who work hard to make all the information and answers relatable, user friendly, and accessible.”
When asked what the challenges are for schools in managing health and safety and building compliance, he added: “In my experience in school auditing over the past 25 years, a common finding is the varying levels of competence which can have a significant impact on school compliance and standards.
These are key roles and, from my experience when a competent premises manager is off sick, school compliance often falls apart, with no one else being aware of what actions and the legal duties the premises staff undertake
that statutory compliance is achieved. The same applies to the school leadership team.
“If there are weaknesses in understanding the legal standards, for example the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, this has the potential for a very-real hazard becoming a significant risk and occupants could be harmed.
“Often this risk is not realised or understood by the duty holder/employer until it is too late, and this can result in a material breach of legislation and enforcement.
“Also, I believe the role of the premises staff needs to have more clarity and importance.
“These are key roles and, from my experience when a competent premises manager is off sick, school compliance often falls apart, with no one else being aware of what actions and the legal duties the premises staff undertake.
“I also believe there is a lack of assurance of school health and safety compliance, including building statutory compliance, with little or poor testing and challenging from school management, and often false assurance can be presented.
“Two quick examples include a lack of internal or external assurance auditing of the building compliance, and no assurances requested by school management or the employer.
“False assurance examples include ticking the box to confirm the statutory compliance function is completed, such as the Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR), but there is no analysis evidenced to support this, with further checking of the EICR revealing an ‘unsatisfactory’ report with high-risk findings that require urgent attention.”
The strategic planning of building improvements is sometimes reactive, lacking in development strategies for the short- and longer-term plans
Many school estates are so vast and there are ongoing concerns over the age and condition of the buildings and infrastructure.
And, with budget constraints and the need for compliant, safe buildings, schools face complex and difficult challenges, sometimes on a daily basis.
McGregor said: “The strategic planning of building improvements is sometimes reactive, lacking in development strategies for short- and longer-term plans.
“Some school challenges with building conditions, whether a serious plumbing issue or a lack of fire doors, do present a risk that should be added to the school’s risk register and should follow the escalation of risk process, with the need for inclusion in the school’s business and budgetary planning.”
He added: “Our message to our members is that they do actually have the power to make their schools either safe or unsafe.
“The NASPM Way is our core culture for our members to champion in their own day-to-day work.
“We want to express the power of a positive health and safety culture and empower our members to drive this throughout their schools.
“The main benefit in being involved
with the only national alliance for school premises staff is the feeling of belonging to a dedicated professional support mechanism.”
Other benefits include the Resource Hub, which is an extensive and accessible toolkit of essential documents covering everything about school building management and health and safety compliance.
The alliance also produces monthly newsletters relevant to managing school estates and designed specifically for premises and leadership teams, providing them with practical guidance and examples of best practice.
And its virtual training function gives access to premises-related training on health, safety, and estates management, delivered in an informal, friendly way.
Short, convenient, and easy to understand, they ensure professionals have the skills needed to deal with all aspects of their role.
Schools can also access a team of chartered professionals via email, with a 48hour response time.
Annual membership for the alliance is £295 a year — less than £1 a day. n
For more information visit the website at www.naspm.co.uk
An overview of government changes to the Academy Trust Handbook and their likely impact on estates and facilities professionals
For the first time poor estates management could be used as a reason to issue schools with improvement notices.
Under a recent update to the Academy Trust Handbook — which provides an overview of financial and governance requirements for academy trusts in England — providers which fail to ensure their estate is in ‘a safe working condition’ could find themselves issued with a Notice to Improve (NtI) and as a result risk losing funding.
The document states: “An academy trust’s estate is both an asset and a mechanism to deliver outcomes for pupils.
“The DfE expects academy trusts to manage their school estate strategically and effectively and maintain their estate in a safe working condition. This includes complying with statutory duties to ensure the health and safety of building occupants.”
To ensure compliance, trusts are made aware of a number of key estates documents and standards they must adhere to. These include:
• The Government’s Good Estate
Management for Schools (GEMS) manual, which includes guidance on an estates strategy and asset management plan; and the Estate Management Competency Framework for standards on the skills and knowledge needed for individuals at all levels
• The Condition Data Collection (CDC) process which helps the DfE understand the condition of government-funded schools across England for the purposes of targeting funding where it is needed most
• Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) guidance. RAAC is a weaker form of concrete used in floors, walls, and roofs of buildings constructed or modified between the 1950s-1990s and could pose a particular risk
• School Capital Funding guidance — who it’s for, current and past allocations, how it’s calculated, and spending guidance
• The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), including links to terms and conditions
Further information and guidance is
available from The Trust Network, which is run by trusts, for trusts, to help members develop effective, efficient, and economically-sustainable estates and safety management practices.
Commenting on the update, Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, argued that the RAAC crisis demonstrated that condition issues can be ‘long-term, expensive projects that trusts are not currently funded to deal with’.
And she called for additional funding to ensure estates teams can address problems and avoid sanctions.
“For trusts to truly maintain estates ‘strategically and effectively’ we need significantly more funding support from government, and cautious proportionate use of regulatory action,” she added.
Speaking to Education Property, Robert Gould, a partner at education property consultancy, Barker Associates, said: “Schools which have been placed in the ‘requires improvement’ category have restrictions on what can do financially.
“This is the first time estates and facilities has been included in the list of reasons which can be given for putting schools into this category.
“It is likely driven by events such as the RAAC crisis and concerns around procurement of capital works identified through Condition Improvement Fund audits and the DfE’s Capital Advisers Programme.”
He advised trusts to ensure they are familiar with all the documents and guidance set out above.
“Managers need to go through this guidance and the self-assessment processes and ensure they have an understanding of their legal and statutory obligations,” he said.
“We advise schools and trusts to follow the GEMS guidance and we are helping by taking the DfE’s checklist and putting it into an online platform where estates teams can check their performance against the eight categories.
“This change emphasises the importance of good project management, procurement practices, contract admin, statutory compliance, and planned maintenance programmes.”
The changes to the handbook also mean trusts will be able to enter into finance leases without prior approval from The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for asset categories on a new DfE-approved list. This aims to simplify the process for trusts looking to improve their facilities. n
Inside issue 02, April-May 2024
• Special report on the design of purposebuilt student accommodation
• How modern methods of construction are creating a new generation of educational buildings
• Guidance supports estates professionals to get the most from their sites Scan to read now Scan to read now
Inside issue 03, June-July 2024
• Special report on the latest acoustic treatments to address noise pollution in schools
• Study reveals the impact of lighting on children with special educational needs
• Nurseries launch petition to force government to axe business rates levy
Scan to read now
Inside issue 04, August-September 2024
• Low-carbon heating key to providing affordable, safe, and sustainable student accommodation
• How Labour’s victory in the General Election will impact on the education property market
• Discussing the untapped potential of transforming empty commercial premises into early years education settings
The finalists of the 2024 National nmt Nursery Awards have been announced
Now in its 22nd year, the annual National nmt Nursery Awards is organised by Education Property publisher, Nexus Media Group.
And this year there are 27 trophies up for grabs, with the winners due to be announced at a ceremony in London on 30 November.
The finalists are:
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
SPONSORED BY FAMLY
• Alphablocks Nursery School
• Blue Giraffe Childcare
• Busy Bees Harlow
• Kindred Nurseries
• Kensal House Nursery
• Muddy Boots Nurseries
• Roots Federation
• The Little Learners Montessori
• Tiny Toez Treehouse
• Toots Day Nursery
To book your place at
NURSERY ROOM LEADER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY MCQUEENS DAIRIES
• Amy Clark, Grandir UK
• Billie Timmons, Shoreham Day Nursery and Preschool, iStep Learning
• Bo Forster, RAFA Kidz Cranwell
• Eglantina Kaziu, Monkey Puzzle Enfield Day Nursery and Preschool
• Gemma Smith, Pear Tree Nursery West Road
• Jackie Kidd, Tiddlywinks Nursery Group
• Jess Hopkins, My Ohana
• Kat Kemp, Kids Inc Nurseries
• Katie Fox, Forest Barn Nursery School, Storal
• Lynne Goy, Nursery On The Hill
NURSERY CHEF OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY CONNECT2CARE
• Andrew Buckingham, The Old Station Nursery Iver
• Atilio Soto Aguilar, Play Away Nursery Totton
• George Dye, Lancing Day Nursery and Preschool, iStep Learning
• Louise Rintoul, Pilrig Nursery
• Lynne Wright, Little Adventures Dudley
• Michael Reid, Edgbaston Nursery School, Storal
• Pete Ttofis, Tops Day Nurseries
• Phil Taylor, Happy Days Nursery & Pre-School Exeter
• Rhian Harris, Ashbourne Day Nurseries
• Samantha Holland, The Sunflower Children’s Centre
• Toddletown Day Nursery
NURSERY INDOOR
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY YPO
• Beal Vale Preschool, MiChild Group
• Beeches Park Day Nursery, The Den Nursery Group
• Busy Bees Matlock
• The Early Years Academy
• Fennies Nurseries Teddington
• kinderzimmer UK
• The Learning Tree Nursery School, Storal
• The Little Learners Montessori Cricklewood
• Partou Storytimes
• Wendover Day Nursery, CC Nurseries
The Old Forge Day Nursery
• The Old Rectory Nursery
• Pumpkin Patch Nursery
COMMUNITY NURSERY OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY TINIES
• Codsall Community Nursery
• Echoes Day Nursery, MiChild Group
• Hungry Caterpillar Day Nurseries – High Wycombe
• Just Imagine Day Nursery Vange, Family First Nurseries
• Kingsmeadows Nursery, Bright Stars Nursery Group
• Little Adventures Nursery Victoria Park
• Little Ducklings Childcare
• Wesley Hall Preschool
Kimberly Griffiths, St Ives Nursery, Bright Stars Nurseries
• Mel Harrison, Busy Bees at Great Notley Braintree
• Rebecca Few, Kiddi Caru Day Nursery and Preschool Caldecotte, Grandir UK
• Rosie Malone, Fennies Woking
• Sarah Austin, Old Crofts Bank Nursery School, Storal
• Tori Marques, The Old Station Nursery Uxbridge
NURSERY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
SPONSORED BY EVOLVE WITHIN RECRUITMENT
• Evergreen Early Years
• kinderzimmer UK
• Little Adventures Nurseries
• Precious Times Day Nursery
Categories continue on pages 44-45 * The National NMT Nursery Awards 2024
AREA MANAGER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY THE OLD STATION NURSERY
• Jay Laycock, Shine Childcare Ltd
• Jenna O’Sullivan, The Old Station Nursery Group
• Kelly Sumner, St. George’s Nursery
• Linzie Goff, MiChild Group
• Niyusha Alizadeh, Family First Nurseries
• Rachael Lyons, Elmscot Group
• Rebecca Casserly, Nurtured Childcare
• Rebecca Winfield, Storal
• Roberta Burrows, Busy Bees Nurseries
• Sherralyn Egan, Bright Horizons
• Stevie Deeble, Kids Inc Nurseries
THE SENCO AWARD
• Bambi Wainwright, Partou Little Dragons
• Carly Wray, Seahorse Nursery
• Claire Kevan, Little Adventures Nurseries
• Emma Haye, Roobyloos Nursery Worsley, Buddle Nurseries
• Georgina Green, Hungry Caterpillar Day Nurseries – Academy Gardens
• Gemma Williamson, Roots Federation
• Helen Wheeldon, Kidzrus Nursery Ltd
• Megan Horne-Payne, Bright Horizons Chineham
• Rebekah Curphey, Shine Childcare
• Rhiannon Thompson, Woodville Nursery and Preschool, Storal
TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY RAFA KIDZ
• Blossom Educational
• Child Paths UK
• Famly
• Oliiki App
• Pebble
CHILDCARE PRACTITIONER AWARD
SPONSORED BY PARTOU
• Alda Shurdhi, Kids Inc Nurseries
• Alison Moore, The Old Station Nursery Wellesbourne
• Chantelle La Rosa O’Grady, Shine Childcare
• Emma Deas, Elmscot Woodlands Day Nursery
• Freyja Rushton, RAFAKidz Brize Norton
• Lorraine Neighbour, Stepping Stones, iStep Learning
• Morgan Lawson, Wee Gems Corstorphine
• Robyn Pearson, My Ohana
• Samantha Winter, Thrift Farm Day Nursery
• Sheona Thomas, Tiddlywinks Nursery Group
NURSERY PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY GRANDIR UK
• Dave Sinclair, MiChild Group
• Doresha Falconer, Hampstead Baby Care Nursery
• Giselle St Paul, Jubilee Nursery, My Ohana
• Helen Mountford, Music Box Nursery
• Jake Forecast, Kids Inc Day Nursery Beehive Lane
• James Ford, Willow Tree Nursery School, Storal
• Jennifer Lewis, Clever Cloggs Day Nursery
• John McLaughlin, Pied Piper Nursery, CC Nurseries
• Tim Thompson, Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Princes Risborough
• William Dudson, Wendover Day Nursery, CC Nurseries
NURSERY TEAM OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY HOPE
• Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Adderbury
• Bright Horizons Haddenham
• Bright Little Stars Watford
• Busy Bees Castle View
• Edgbaston Nursery School, Storal
• Montessori Minds
• Small Friends Day Nursery, The Old Station Nursery Group
• The Sunflower Children’s Centre
• Tots and Scholars Elstree
• Young Friends Kindergarten
APPRENTICESHIP SCHEME OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY REALISE
• Bright Horizons
• Grandir UK
• Hungry Caterpillar Day Nurseries
• Montessori Apprentice Academy
• The Old Station Nursery
• Rosedene Nurseries
• Seymour House Ltd
• Storal
• Tops Day Nurseries
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY KIDS PLANET
• Amber Knight, Bright Horizons
• Annie Griggs, Grandir UK
• Emily O’Neill, The Old Station Nursery Little Oaks
• Hazel Douglas Barnes, Toots Day Nursery
• Fern Boyden, Ashbourne Day Nurseries
• Kayleigh Giles, Kids Inc Nurseries
• Laura Filer, Little Adventures Nurseries
• Mariana Marques, Fennies Nurseries
• Marjorie Podlasin, Kindred Nurseries
• Sarah Porter, Family First Nurseries
NURSERY GROUP (SMALL)
SPONSORED BY DOT 2 DOT
NURSERY INSURANCE
• Bright Kids
• Cybertots
• kinderzimmer UK
• Little Adventures Nurseries
• Muddy Boots Nurseries York
• Norfolk House Nursery
• Nurtured Childcare
• Purple Lion Day Nurseries
• Shine Childcare Ltd
• St. George’s Nursery
NURSERY GROUP (MEDIUM)
SPONSORED BY COMMUNITY PLAYTHINGS
• Kido Schools UK
• Kids Inc Nurseries
• Kindred Nurseries
• MiChild Group
• LEYF
• RAFA Kidz
• Rosedene Nurseries
• Seymour House Day Nursery Schools
• Storal
NURSERY GROUP (LARGE)
SPONSORED BY CHRISTIE & CO
• Bright Horizons
• Bright Stars Nursery Group
• Family First Nurseries
• Grandir UK
• Kids Planet Day Nurseries
• Partou Childcare
NEW NURSERY OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY IMPACT FUTURES
• Apple Blossom Nursery
• Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Houghton Regis
• Enchanted Lands Day Nursery
• Little Adventures Nursery Stirchley
• Kido Bethnal Green
• Naturally Learning Redruth
• Precious Times Day Nursery
NURSERY OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY HOPE
• Bardykes Farm Nursery School
• The Cheshire Day Nursery Winwick, Bright Stars Nursery Group
• Muddy Boots at the Farm, iStep Learning
• Meadow Lane Children’s Nursery
• The Old Forge Day Nursery, The Den Nursery Group
• Outdoor Owls
• Partou Bumpkins
• Scallywags Nursery Hornchurch
• The Sunflower Childrens Centre
• Young Friends Kindergarten
DEPUTY NURSERY
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY CC NURSERIES GROUP
• Amy Rowen, My Ohana York Nursery
• Carla Jacobs, Naturally Learning Blackwater
• Charlotte Hodge, Storal
• Charlotte Spencer, Nursery On The Green, Family First Nurseries
• Diane Woodcock, Ashbourne Day Nurseries Sandbach
• Elizabeth Alderton, The Southwater Day Nursery & PreSchool, iStep Learning
• Kirsty Johnston, The Old Station Nursery Bromsgrove
• Rachael Emery, Beeches Park Day Nursery, The Den Nursery Group
• Sophie Forrester, Echoes Day Nursery, MiChild Group
• Safia Abdullahi, Monkey Puzzle Enfield Day Nursery and Preschool
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
SPONSORED BY ISTEP LEARNING
To be announced on the night
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY FAMILY FIRST
• Bianca Pascu, Enchanted Lands Day Nursery
• Danielle Moran-Tomkins, Dicky Birds Day Nursery & Preschool, Grandir UK
• Hannah Gibbons-Brown, The Old Station Nursery Iver
• Jay Scarisbrick, Cherry Tree Nursery School, Storal
• Laura Rushby, Rand Farm Park Day Nursery & Pre-School, Farm Day Nurseries
• Oyindamola Akinlotan, Highfield Nursery, MiChild Group
• Phoebe Veness, Townsend Montessori The Grange, The Old Station Nursery Group
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY BRIGHT STARS
• Training & Learning
• CareTutor
• Hawk Training Management
• Kidslingo
• MBK Early Years
• Mini Lingos
• Parenta Training
• Realise Learning & Employment
EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
• Community Playthings
• Chequered Fox
• Cosy Direct
• Green Bottoms
• Hope
• Mangotree Kids
• Millhouse
• Zebedees
CONTRIBUTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL
SPONSORED BY BUSY BEES
To be announced on the night
A new tool is helping higher education estates professionals to meet net zero carbon targets
The Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE) has published a new tool to help higher education (HE) property managers decarbonise their sites.
AUDE’s A Guide to Decarbonisation was commissioned from Arup and will help estates managers prioritise between the options available to deliver decarbonisation strategies more cost effectively.
Andy Nolan, chair of AUDE’s sustainability advisory group, said: “Every member university knows that decarbonisation of the estate sits high on the institutional task list, but it can seem daunting in terms of both cost and process.
“Where do we start? How do we finance the multiple sub projects involved, and schedule them into a coherent plan of action that aligns with corporate strategy?
“And how do we prioritise between the options available to us and consider our own unique position as universities in the decisions we make?”
“We know that universities are at different stages of maturity in their thinking on this issue and the guide will support members, whether their planning is at a ‘foundation’ level, or at a point where enhanced plans are needed, where the thinking is far enough evolved that real questions of detail can be considered and the workings of corporate planning are ever more robust.”
The guidance was collated in conjunction with the British Universities
Finance Directors Group, the Higher Education Strategic Planners Association, and the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education.
Nolan said: “With practical advice and specifications, it draws on the expertise of our members and partners in supporting you in this fundamental activity.
“If you are about to procure consultancy advice for a decarbonisation plan, read the guide first — it will help you ensure you get an output that is bespoke and targeted to what you need and avoid the pitfalls that others have faced.”
Andy Sheppard, associate director and project lead for Arup, added: “Developing a decarbonisation plan takes resources, time, commitment, and emotional energy. But a plan is not the end point — it should fire the starting gun for everincreasing momentum.
“Only by implementing a plan and
Reduce the Estate’s total energy consumption by rationalisation and improving building
creating real-world emissions reductions will we slow climate breakdown.
“In our experience, barriers to decarbonisation are very rarely technical. This is reflected in this guide by the constant reference to internal collaboration and the need to reach outside the estates department.
“A plan that stretches across an institution can uncover or highlight existing wider barriers. Focusing on these barriers in a positive way, rather than wishing they didn’t exist, is the only way create real progress.”
The launch of the new tool follows publication of AUDE’s Cost of Net Zero Report which was launched in July 2023.
It looked at the costs of reaching net zero across scopes 1, 2 and 3 for the UK higher and further education sector and it estimated the total cost to transition to net zero as £43.8bn, comprising £37.1bn for higher education and £6.7bn for further education sites.
The new report states that decarbonisation plans are a 10-20-year undertaking and as such must be forward thinking and co created with a panel of stakeholders, with senior leadership approval and sign off.
It states: “A decarbonisation plan is only as good as its implementation.
“Past plans have, at times, been created in isolation and then struggled to influence an institution’s investment.
“They sometimes did not integrate well with existing aims, constraints, and ways of working. This can leave them to be seen as an inconvenience rather than a vehicle to enable progress and success.”
The report also provides case studies where universities have implemented effective plans.
These include the University of Liverpool, where the facilities, residential, and commercial services (FRCS) department has embarked on an ambitious journey to embed sustainability across all its built environment projects.
The Sustainable Built Environment Investment Framework (SBEIF), developed in collaboration with Arup, is now in its implementation phase, driving change across sustainable design, governance, performance reporting, and procurement.
The project, which began in 2022 and has progressed
Estates masterplan- actions/recommendations to drive decarbonisation
Potential factors Actions/ recommendations Changing demand for
faculties and/or facilities
Temporary works and decant strategy
Changing relationship with wider locality
Development of public realm
Transport connectivity modal shift
Increasing emphasis of sustainability in all subjects’ curricula
Adaptation/resilience to a changing climate
Student expectations
Long-term planning for changing demand can lead to efficiencies in the estate (and therefore in carbon) by informing required space flexibility needs that create buildings that change with the university instead of needing refurbishment.
Prioritise the consideration of decant space to maximise use of existing spaces with early planning and aligning the programmes across all decarbonisation (and other) works.
An aspiration to increase links with the local town or city is common. An additional level of informal assessment can consider a wider urban boundary as opposed to universitycentred one to increase real-world impact.
Decarbonisation should influence wider public realm works to create a climate resilient environment which supports climate change mitigation through nature-based solutions and enhances student experience.
Prioritise sustainable transport solutions to support Scope 3 emissions reduction from commuting. Ensure Estates Masterplan enables sustainable transport network upgrades as transport patterns gradually change.
A decarbonisation plan has the potential to form a valuable learning resource and the use of the estate as a Living Lab to allow cutting-edge yet practical research to be carried out.
Build in the expectations of the impacts of a changing climate over decades into your planning and the specification of upgrades.
Universities are in the business of attracting students. ‘Attractiveness’ can be a key metric pulling together many disparate elements to ensure trends are towards improvements.
throughout 2023-24, is a testament to the power of collaboration. It convenes an extensive set of teams, roles, and stakeholders to drive fullscale change in how the university delivers projects across its campuses.
And it is actively contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by:
• Integrating less carbon-intensive construction design, materials, and practices into estate developments
• Securing ring-fenced investment to mitigate against value engineering
• Applying the framework to brand new projects in 2024 to put the newlydeveloped work methods to the test
Efforts by the University of Hull are also highlighted.
Faced with challenges in financing decarbonisation plans due to competing priorities, long payback periods, and budget constraints; the university has:
• Aligned decarbonisation with strategic priorities via a 10-year sustainability strategy
• Secured £86m in dedicated green bond financing
• Developed tailored business cases beyond simple payback and Net Present Value (NPV) metrics
• Fostered cross-functional collaboration to embed decarbonisation across the institution n
Ashden and The Green Finance Institute are working on an innovative funding model to help fill the £2bn-a-year funding gap facing schools.
Eschools sit at the intersection of two of Labour’s five missions for the new government: transforming the UK into a clean energy superpower and breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child.
And this supports the call for a missionoriented innovation policy from Mariana Mazzucato — professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London.
Education buildings in the UK currently represent a substantial portion of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 37% of total public sector building emissions.
And, according to the Department for Education (DfE), the energy expenditure associated with these buildings amounted to £1.8bn in 2023.
Decarbonising schools can, therefore, play a critical role in reducing costs from energy expenditure which can be reinvested into educating students.
Ashden has now partnered with The Green Finance Institute (GFI) to support UK schools to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
Ashden is a leading climate solutions charity accelerating transformative climate solutions in the UK, with a particular focus on sustainable energy and development.
By leveraging the combined strengths of the GFI and Ashden, the joint ‘Innovative Financing’ project aims to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon school environments.
“Financing education buildings is a highlycomplex environment — even without the added challenge of a £2bn-a-year funding gap to decarbonise them,” said a spokesman.
“Schools are funded directly by the Government, to cover the cost of delivering education and maintain schools, and
different types of schools receive funding in different ways.
“They also face borrowing restrictions, preventing them from accessing repayable finance.
“And this is compounded by the reality that they are already facing significant funding and resource constraints, and in most instances won’t have the expertise to work with third parties to access alternative forms of finance in this complicated environment.
“The confluence of these various elements means the ways in which schools could pay for decarbonisation is limited, and due to focuses elsewhere, is not top of the priority list.”
But private finance could play a significant role in filling this finance gap, if done in an appropriate way, according to the partnership.
“Altering the landscape to enable private investment could be pivotal, but can’t be at the expense of investing in education or paying teaching and maintenance staff appropriately to ensure that student education remains the priority,” said the spokesman.
As part of the collaboration, Ashden and The GFI have developed a series of initial recommendations to assist schools on their decarbonisation journey. These include:
• Calling on the UK Government to remove legislative barriers and clear up the policy on borrowing for schools, creating an appropriate, enabling environment for repayable finance
• An impartial, quality-controlled technical advice service to work in tandem with funding, allowing for schools to deliver decarbonisation effectively These could enable schools to move forward quickly and with confidence on simple, lowrisk, high-impact decarbonisation measures such as building management controls, LED lighting, and rooftop solar PV.
Energy savings from these measures could then be reinvested alongside building confidence and trust in the supply chain.
“Despite a complex environment, schools could be a beacon of public sector decarbonisation if private finance can be mobilised appropriately,” said the spokesman.
“Offering long-term potential for public sector savings, and the opportunity to boost the resilience of schools to a changing climate — decarbonising schools has a significant role to play in delivering the Government’s missions to transform the UK into a clean energy superpower and break down barriers to opportunity for every child.” n
Here, we look at why one early years provider is helping to encourage the next generation to be more aware of the environment and how it is championing sustainability within its nurseries
Sustainability and eco-friendly design are crucial to early years settings as we educate the youngest members of the community on the importance of protecting the planet for future generations.
And nursery operator, Grandir UK, is leading the way with a commitment to the promoting sustainability across all its sites, including the creation of forest schools and education programmes which embody eco action.
Its Sow and Grow module, for example, encourages children to spend time outdoors, learn how to grow various plants and produce, and experience the wonder of nature while at the nurseries.
Last month Kiddie Cary Day Nursery and Preschool in Redhill, Surrey, achieved the
prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag Award, a seven-step framework that empowers young people to make a real difference in their school, local community, and beyond.
To gain the accolade, children took part in many eco committee meetings and shared their input into how they would like to implement eco-friendly action.
The staff and children also put in time and effort to create a nursery garden which ensures that education is centred around taking care of nature and the environment.
And growing plants and produce in their garden provides a calming activity that can bring benefits to the children’s mental health. It also teaches them responsibility and the importance of looking after something on a regular basis; and the act of digging, watering, and planting can help develop fine motor skills to help them prepare for school.
A spokesperson for Grandir UK said parents were increasingly choosing their children’s nurseries based on their sustainability credentials, adding: “An eco-friendly nursery school is a school that reduces its environmental impact and promotes sustainability.
“Encouraging young children to care for the environment can influence the way future generations will live on our planet.
“Nurseries that are modelled on social, environmental, and financial sustainability are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and this is because parents are keen to educate their children from an early age on the importance of sustainability and help them develop a respect for all life — human, animal, or plant.”
Grandir UK has put together a list of things to take into consideration when trying to understand how green and sustainable a nursery is:
• Is the nursery teaching children about eco-friendly activities, protecting our environment and sustainability including topics such as renewable energy, fossil fuels, endangered species, global warming, and climate education?
• Is the nursery reducing its impact on the planet’s resources by reducing plastic waste, consumption of energy, air pollution, water, paper, and toxic chemicals?
• Is the nursery recycling and reusing items?
• Is the nursery educating not only the children, but parents and the wider community about sustainability?
Outdoor green space and environmental awards, such as Green Flag accreditation, will also help parents to choose nurseries that will help their children learn the importance of caring for the environment.
The spokesperson said: “A moresustainable planet is possible if the next generation is educated.
“Young children can grow up with an understanding of how to look after the planet and can, in turn, influence their parents and others.
“And children and parents can learn a lot about sustainability from nurseries.
“Nurseries can influence their staff, parents, and children, too.
“Nurseries are caring for a future generation and whatever actions nursery providers take can leave a footprint that impacts on the world children grow up into. That’s why sustainability matters.” n
White City residents will soon be able to invest in Jack Tizard School’s solar future and earn returns
Want to own a piece of the sun? A White City school is doing just that after flipping the switch on Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s first community solar scheme.
More than 270 solar panels are now harvesting sunshine from the roof of Jack Tizard School in South Africa Road.
The £110,000 project — led by Hammersmith & Fulham Community Energy — will generate clean, green electricity to power more than a third of the school’s needs.
The move is expected to save the school around £2,000 a year on energy bills.
“We were really excited that, not only could we save some money on our energy bills,
which we could then spend on our children, but also that it would support people in the local community as well,” said Francesca Smith, the school’s headteacher.
The school — which is rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted — supports local pupils with a range of severe learning difficulties, aged 2-19.
What is unique with this project is that it is an innovative community ownership model, giving residents the chance to invest upwards of £50 in the solar installation and earn a return.
“The panels will, in time, be owned by
the community,” said Wilf MacDonaldBrown, director at Hammersmith & Fulham Community Energy.
“Members of the community will essentially have a stake in the mini power station on the roof of the school.”
It means that the bill-busting installation will not cost the school or the council a penny — while also generating up to £20,000 to benefit local community projects.
“We will create a community fund to distribute to as many causes within the community as we can,” said MacDonald-Brown.
“It’s a tried-and-tested approach.”
Interested investors can join the H&F Community Energy mailing list to be the first to know when the offer opens in early 2025.
The energy cooperative — kickstarted with financial support from H&F’s Climate Action Microgrants — will maintain the panels throughout the 20-year project.
After this period, the panels will be donated to the school, with an expected additional lifespan of 5-10 years.
H&F Community Energy is currently assessing four further community sites for potential solar installations, which could generate up to 755 kWp — enough to power 300 London homes.
St Sophia’s Primary School in Galston, East Ayrshire, is set to become the first EnerPHit-certified school in the UK.
EnerPHit refurbishment transforms the energy efficiency of an existing building, working within the existing footprint and structure.
Undertaking a deep retrofit to an EnerPHit standard also provides the opportunity to rationalise and improve the layout of the existing building to ensure this is fit for modern learning environments.
And pupils from P5 and P6 recently visited the school to view the progress taking place and learn how they will benefit from this innovative refurbishment.
Councillor Elaine Cowan, Cabinet spokesperson for education and children and young people at East Ayrshire Council, joined pupils and the school’s depute
headteacher at the site for a project update from main contractor, Flemings, and the design and delivery team from Property and Facility Management, which is managing the project.
Councillor Cowan said: “The project is progressing well, with foundations and underbuilding completed for the new extension, steel sections for the new twostorey extension completed, and internal plasterwork ongoing within the main hall, kitchen, and main corridor area.
“You can really see the school
taking shape now.
“While this project is undoubtedly innovative, it is, first and foremost, an investment in the children and young people of the Irvine Valley.
“As a council we are committed to ensuring that all our children and young people have the best-possible start in life and have the opportunity to learn in an environment that matches the hopes and aspirations of the school community.”
The project, which has a total capital budget of £5.8m, is being delivered as part of the second phase of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme and is receiving total grant funding support of approximately £4.3m over a 25-year period.
The building has been designed by Hamson Barron Smith.
