Last updated 16:01, Wednesday, 22 October 2008

HALF way through the first term of the West Lakes Academy work is underway to design the new build scheduled for completion in 2011.

The starting point is the Academy’s vision for 21st Century education. This recognises that the world of 2020 and beyond will be very different to the world of today. Students increasingly have unprecedented access to information and learning materials on-line, in and out of the Academy, often independently of teaching. The Academy’s ‘strap-line’ “Changing Lives Through Learning” deliberately emphasises learning, although of course learning requires good teachers.

So the new build will be designed for learning. The Academy aspires to transformational learning and teaching – education that is student-centred: personalised learning tailored to meet individual needs, equipping every young person with the knowledge and skills needed for a fulfilling adult life in a world that is accelerating, global and changing ever faster.

Moving to a more personalised experience for students means the design will break down the conventional ‘one teacher, one classroom, one timetable’ model.

The new build will be structured differently in terms of both layout and the way spaces are managed. For teachers this shift will be challenging: they too will have to be learners, as will the rest of the workforce. Honouring the £25million investment with new practice and the promise of greater success, focussed on learning, is the challenge for the 21st Century Academy.

The new build will allow students to work individually or in small groups as well as come together in larger groups. It will have a variety of learning spaces - research areas; reflective learning space; seminar areas; practical areas; specialist facilities - all supported by new technology.

The design will provide the means for every young person to unlock his/her potential. It must give students safe, welcoming and inspirational spaces where they want to learn; environments and resources that help teachers help students learn; catering facilities that can dispense throughout the day; and (an important design priority for students) decent toilets.

The new build must have a positive impact on attendance, behaviour and achievement. Future proofing in terms if ICT will be important. It will also be vital in terms of sustainability.

And for a 21st Century Academy aspiring to be at the heart of the community, the facilities must be able to be used by the community.