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Mayor Meredith organised a visit today to The Brunel Academy in Bristol.

All local schools were invited, James Brindley, Mitchell High and Haywood accepted the invitation.

The Brunel Academy is the first BSF completed "new-build" and, as with most schools, they are very proud of their site. The old school had experienced many difficulties - special measures, an interim director drafted in to replace the head and governing body, low social esteem and a dilapidated three-storey building.

A new build, along with new leadership has obviously been the correct way forward for this area.

From a personal view point, I was actually disappointed - it reminded me of the Trafford Shopping Centre - without the glitz. The main walkways are too wide, you feel lonely, the classrooms are very square and bland. The concept is that open areas provide security and prevent hostile action, the toilet "blocks" being a prime example. This is an area that is three-sided - opening directly onto the main walkway, cubicles on two sides, mirrored back wall and wash "trough" in the centre ,and it is unisex.

My impression of the building inside and out is clinical and hard, I didn't feel that there were any soft/warm areas.

I admit that I was looking for things that we could use to incorporate on the Haywood site to give extra force to our campaign. Unfortunately I came back with nothing. We currently have more things in place educationally, and our building plans for the Haywood Tower are more radical and exciting.

As mentioned, I feel that the Brunel Academy may be right for that area and its associated problems, and I don't wish to be negative, but we are proud of our city and should keep its history alive and incorporate it into any new buildings or refurbishments.

This is a brief description of the day. If you wish to have a look at their website, click any one of the logos.

We all felt that it was a worthwhile trip and thank Mayor Meredith for giving us the opportunity to visit.

Dawn

As a parent of a year 9 pupil at Haywood, I agree with Dawn about the Brunel school. I invited myself along to the Bristol school visit, mainly to have a look what would be installed for our city's schools. It was a worthwhile look at a Building Schools for the Future project .

On approaching the school, it did look like a large warehouse, a very shiny metal building standing high and proud amongst the dwarfed housing estate which surrounded it. About 12 feet away from the front of the new school entrance, the old school building was being demolished. On asking if this closeness of building had caused disruption to the pupils' education, the head teacher said that it had not, and the children were able to watch the school building as it progressed. Please note that the new building was built on the same location, using the playing fields, and that once the old building was demolished, the school would once again have its playing fields.

For the attention of Serco - it can be, and has been, done!
Photo from: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=725&storycode=3094882&featurecode=12023

This was also said by a couple of teachers, and they were asked if they would change anything about the school: "There had been some teething problems but nothing major". They felt it was a better environment for teaching.

The head, Mr Armando Di-Finizio, was very positive about the individual teaching of the pupils, and the introduction of school uniform was also a positive thing for the school. "The building was a fresh start for the area".

He mentioned that school meetings were not very well attended before and that were was more interest from parents now .

It was a nice shiny new building, but it felt clinical. We were able to venture into the classrooms, and, yes they were all a good square size, but the walls and shelves were empty of books or pupils' work on display.

The corridors, or streets as they are known in the school, were wide, with computer areas for pupils to work. The open plan setting did feel like a shopping arcade, and, with waist high metal railing around, looked like one too.

Looking over the handrail in some places, the ground floor area was visible seen below. My initial thoughts were how long would it be before someone falls or gets pushed over there. I asked Bryony while walking around what she thought of the balconies and she had the same thought.

The idea behind the building being open plan was that all pupils could be seen all the times. Not all pupils need this "Big Brother" supervision. Sometimes pupils do need to have a quiet area to talk to peer groups without everyone being able to listen to them, and a pupil at the Bristol Brunel did comment that he did feel that there was no privacy. The pupils there sat around on the stairs, which was their chosen area to gather to chat.

I read a bit about the school before the visit and was puzzled about the open plan toilets area. It was very different to what we are used to, and that the boys and girls used the same toilet areas. Bryony did not like that idea too.

The trip to Bristol was organised by Mark Meredith so that representatives of all high schools were able to see the BSF programme for themselves. Radio Stoke and The Sentinel were also invited, but only three high schools accepted this trip offer. Haywood was well represented with two year 9 pupils, two inquisitive parents, Dawn Clewes (Chair of PTFA and hardened HoH campaigner) and Haywood's site manager Mr Lewis. We were also the only school group to take photos.

It was a good idea for pupils to see the Bristol Brunel school too, as adults don't always have the same ideas that young teens have, and they were able to have their own views of the BSF.

Bryony and I came home thinking that yes, it was a new building, but it lacked something. We didn't have a "can't wait for our school to be like that" feeling, but realised that it was possible to build another school close to a working school without too much disturbance to pupils .

The school cost approximately £24 million over the last 3 years (Construction time). Bearing in mind this is just one school, and SERCO are planning twelve new / refurbished schools, I think this may mean that there may be a large shortfall in the £200 million that they are bidding for.

I was glad that I was able to see the Bristol school for myself, but the school's open plan design does open more questions - fewer internal walls mean cheaper builds. As architectural views change year on year, I hope that this style of building will not end up viewed in the same way as many 60s and 70s buildings are today.

Dereth

It seems that all parties that went on the visit representing schools shared the same views. The building was cold and lacked atmosphere, there was a lot of metal both in and outside the building which added to the feeling of the building being cold. My first impressions were that of a jail and the students that were peering over the handrails on the second floor could have been the inmates (just like I’ve seen on the telly).

HMP Bristol Brunel Academy?
A former Probation Officer's first reaction on seeing these pictures was:
"Wormwood Scrubs was better than that!"
You really can imagine Porridge being filmed there!
Photo from: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=725&storycode=3094882&featurecode=12023

The corridors and walkways were wide and the excess space seemed to relieve the students of areas where they could just go and “chill”.

It was good to get the views of the two students that we took on the visit, something that no other schools do. Bryony Adams Highway expressed concerns about the open plan mixed toilets whilst Jordan Williamson thought that the excess space in the ground floor corridor seemed to encourage the students to mess about.

The classrooms looked good when you entered inside, everything was new and through design they felt light and airy, however they were conventional boxes i.e. the teachers desk was at the front and the student desks were in rows facing the white board. The idea given to me by students and staff at Haywood was that of a different way of teaching and learning, and Jordan emphasised this in his interview with The Sentinel saying that it would be good if in some rooms the teacher could be sited in the middle of the class - he suggested that it might encourage more interactive learning.

I would like to thank Mayor Mark Meredith for organising the trip and the Principal Armando Di Finizio letting us visit the academy. Unfortunately hand on heart, I was not bowled over by some "wow factor", and although there is no doubt that the Principal and his team are doing an excellent work down in Bristol in the new building, I don’t know if that would necessarily be the right thing to build in Stoke-on-Trent, particularly at Haywood High School.

In Stoke we are different, as is each area of the country, and Serco must take this on board. What we want here at Haywood was agreed by all parties, and when it comes to fruition I know that it will be good for students, staff and the community, providing an excellent platform on which to build raising the aspirations of the local community and Stoke On Trent.

I would question how much consultation was done with the students staff and the community at Bristol Brunel before the design was finalised, and then to what degree they were listened to.

We must make Serco realise that Haywood is ready for the change and well prepared. Feasibility studies asking the question is this site suitable for a rebuild? The answer was a definite Yes. Can Serco be made to realise that, if everyone is going to engage with the new build and take ownership, it has to be something that is wanted by all parties and not something that is dumped on our site that was totally budget-led.

Martin