Another good news story hidden among the bad from the BBC yesterday:

£141.5m for schools in Sheffield
A total of £141.5m is to be invested in five Sheffield schools, the city council has announced.
The cash will be used to transform Newfield, Silverdale, Firth Park, High Storrs and Yewlands secondary schools.

Two units for special educational needs pupils will be rebuilt or refurbished as part of the government-backed scheme.

A council spokesman said the scheme was being funded by a combination of council borrowing and private finance.

just hope they dont make em look like a prison, like the one near northern gen

Lets see how much of it makes it's way into a classroom.

I hope alot does.

Funny, I heard this news twice yesterday, and could have sworn both times I heard them say 1.5 million. I thought that was a bit mean, especially for more than one school over 5 years, Lol. Made me choke on my coffee.
Hope you're right and I heard wrong.

Cosy

Apart from they're doing it through PFI schemes, which are a pretty bad thing, although they have lots of advantages.

Tapton's been rebuilt on a PFI scheme, and although we have lots of good facilities, in the end, it's a privatized system, and we actually hire the school from the company (Interserve) for £300 an hour, which is difficult for extra curricular stuff. It also means there is a monopoly on the food in the canteen, so they charge a lot of money and we can't do anything about it. Our vending machines are owned by Coca Cola, we have advertising boards around school.....

Call me a cynic but isn't there an election just around the corner? :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Mo
Call me a cynic but isn't there an election just around the corner? :rolleyes:

You're a cynic. Happy?

If, by round the corner, you mean May 2006 then yes, Sheffield's municipal elections are just round the corner.

Originally posted by NATALIESHEFF
just hope they dont make em look like a prison, like the one near northern gen

I think it looks really good.. You should have seen it before, that was like a prison! I went there, I know :)

Isn't one implication of this deal that the Council will be top-slicing EVERY secondary school budget by the equivalent cost of 3 full time teachers posts for each school, to cover a funding gap?

Originally posted by max
You're a cynic. Happy?

If, by round the corner, you mean May 2006 then yes, Sheffield's municipal elections are just round the corner.

No I mean General Election this coming Spring.

Originally posted by NATALIESHEFF
just hope they dont make em look like a prison, like the one near northern gen

Which school do you refer to?

I've noticed that Mansel Middle school now resembles a prison with a parameter fence around it.

Originally posted by Ned Ludd
Isn't one implication of this deal that the Council will be top-slicing EVERY secondary school budget by the equivalent cost of 3 full time teachers posts for each school, to cover a funding gap?

Not ALL cos some of us are gonna be 'Academies' and therefore completely out of LA control. :hihi:

Originally posted by Lickszz
Which school do you refer to?

I've noticed that Mansel Middle school now resembles a prison with a parameter fence around it.

Must be Fir Vale

My school is one that's going to be rebuilt by 2008, and fortunately not as a PFI. So, in theory, it should be built to function as a school rather than a generic building which could serve as a business office, like those under the PFI scheme.

Ours is supposed to be part of the DFES initiative for the pilot schools of the future, so it supposed to be something radical.

To be honest, I'll just be pleased to work in a nice environment that's not falling down, with plastic for windows and draughty classrooms and halls and dysfunctional toilets.

It'll also be good for the kids to go to somewhere they can be proud of, rather than some grotty sub standard building that no-one takes care of or has any respect for.

The rebuild of Tapton School under PFI is a complete joke.

The building looks like a hospital, isn't big enough, is in a bad state already (I think they built it from mud and twigs!!! :loopy: ), doesn't have all the facilitys detailed in the original plans and the car park is no where near big enough (some staff have to park on the main drive way - the day someone dings my car I will not be happy!!) . Not to put too fine a point on it - it isn't fit for purpose.

PFI is a great idea but badly implemented imho!