More secondary schools in Manchester are set to be transformed with new state-of-the-art facilities and buildings following an announcement by Schools Minister Jim Knight.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has announced that Manchester will be one of 15 local authorities to receive funding in Wave 4 of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) - the government's national programme to rebuild and invest in every secondary school in England over a 15 year period.
The announcement means that Manchester will get more funds to remodel and refurbish a further seven schools. This is in addition to the £200 million already secured through the first wave of BSF to rebuild or refurbish sixteen of the city's high schools. Along with Manchester's innovative Academy programme, this will complete the remodelling of all the city's high schools.
Once the exact level of funding is known, the Council will be targeting it at schools in central and south Manchester and the schools that have already been identified as priority schools for remodelling or refurbishing include: Whalley Range High School for Girls; St Thomas Aquinas High School; Trinity High School; The Barlow High School; St Peter's RC High School; Ewing School; and Lancasterian School.
The details of improvements for schools will vary from refurbishment to completely new buildings and facilities, depending on the requirements of each school, and will focus on providing 21st century learning environments to transform the educational experience for both teaching staff and pupils.
Consultation with local communities, students, teachers and other stakeholders will take place over the coming months to develop all the schemes. It is anticipated that construction work would begin on site at the first of the wave four schools in 2008.
Councillor Jeff Smith, Executive Member for Children's Services, Manchester City Council, said: "This is fantastic news for our schools and for our plans to transform education in Manchester. It is a real vote of confidence in the Council's ability to deliver our ambitious school building programme. Improving our school buildings is a crucial element in the regeneration of the city and we will be working closely with schools and local communities to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from this."
Manchester's inclusion in Wave 4 funding for BSF means that over the next six years the city's secondary schools and planned Academies are set to benefit from total capital investment of around £450 million pounds.
Media contact- Jane Lemon 0161 234 3179