Building schools for the community? Process, practice and wider outcomes in the Building Schools for the Future programme

In 2004 the government announced a massive school building programme which will result in the refurbishment or rebuilding of every secondary school in England within the next 15 years at a total budget of £45bn. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the government's most ambitious school building programme since the post war period Within its remit it aims to achieve more than schools that are fit for purpose and seeks to accomplish wider regeneration objectives in the local area. It matters that schools begin to tackle these issues as the links between low educational achievement, unemployment and social exclusion are well documented This report goes beyond the limited available literature regarding schools and regeneration to examine broader policy objectives, practice and evaluation of BSF so far. It uses a review of the previous post war school building programme through an analysis of the processes used and the outcomes achieved, to allow comparisons to be drawn with the albeit different but nevertheless system lead approach of BSF today. It concludes by making recommendations that could be applied to BSF that aim to resolve some of the complexities and difficulties associated with designing new school buildings for our local communities