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One school will win a stylish and
permanent 30-pupil classroom from Clearspace Buildings’ Evolve Programme
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Local
schools struggling for space are being given a chance to win an £80,000
classroom that’s big enough for 30 students.
The national
competition is being run by the leading education magazine and website TES in
conjunction with Clearspace Buildings, a UK developer, designer, manufacturer
and installer of timber frame and modular timber structures.
Open to all UK primary and secondary
schools in the area, the competition is being launched on Friday 21st
September 2012 and entry is via either www.tes.co.uk/building
or www.clearspacebuildings.co.uk/evolve . Schools are simply required to
explain in no more than 300 words why their school deserves a new learning
space. The competition closes on Friday 20th November 2012
Six shortlisted schools will be
selected in December and, following a public vote, the winning school will be
announced in January with construction of the stylish new building as early as
Easter 2013.
As well as construction of the
classroom Clearspace Buildings will undertake all necessary planning and
building permissions, groundwork and construction and internal finishing,
including flooring, lighting and power points.
“We’ve been
covering education in Britain for more than 100 years and organised many
competitions for teachers, but we’ve never been involved in giving away a
school building before,” said Gerard Kelly, TES editor.
“Schools can
be squeezed for space, especially if they are popular or in areas with rising
birth rates. But creating new classrooms can be incredibly hard as schools
budgets are tightening, and planning and construction are often expensive,” he
added.
Explaining the rationale behind the high value giveaway,
Scott Horner, Managing Director of Northumberland-based Clearspace Buildings,
said: “We’re hugely proud of the Evolve Programme. TES is the most widely read
and subscribed website and magazine for teachers and schools and therefore the
ultimate vehicle to promote this unique and timely classroom giveaway.”
The population boom has already pushed many primary
schools to ‘breaking point’ and forced town halls to draw up emergency plans to
teach children in disused shops and warehouses. New figures from the Department
for Education have shown the number of pupils in state schools is expected to
rise to 7,950,000 by the end of the decade – 935,000 more than now.
This will mean that instead of one or two classes in each
year group, there are plans for some schools to have up to six form groups in
each year, which will leave many schools struggling for additional space.
Clearspace Buildings has created a ground-breaking
range of beautiful Red Cedar Wood clad, permanent, quick to construct and
cost-effective specifically targeted at schools. All buildings are specifically
designed to suit a school’s needs and are multi-functional and adaptable.
Known as the Evolve Programme, the
buildings are inspirational learning spaces designed to challenge traditional
methods of creating additional classroom space - usually with grey, lifeless
temporary buildings.
Unlike the traditional blue and grey
temporary buildings, Clearspace Buildings’ FSC-certified timber-framed
structures are stylishly designed with Western Red Cedar cladding and
contemporary high performance powder-coated aluminium frame glazing. Inside,
the buildings are light and airy with solid oak floors to create stimulating
learning environments.
Bespoke designed and ranging in size
from 50m² - 1500m², Clearspace Buildings’ structures are manufactured and
designed in the UK and can be sited virtually anywhere and constructed on or
off site where space is of a premium.
To cope with the accommodation demands
for increased pupil numberstThe Department for Education is relaxing building
regulations so that new schools can occupy a smaller space - secondary schools
by 15% and primary schools by 5%.
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