Can better classrooms equal better education?

The greatest school building renewal programme in Britain to date is underway. The £45b programme will run over 15 years and see the entire secondary school building stock upgraded and refurbished.

BSF is about more than the renovation of schools. Each establishment will get high quality facilities and cutting edge technology to provide an inspirational, advanced education environment.

Feedback from the schools and communities already completed has been largely positive with improved attendance, better behaviour among students, and increased community use of facilities.

Technology is increasingly playing a role in the classroom, and each BSF School will benefit from classrooms equipped with exciting technology that will raise attainment and encourage positive independent attitudes to learning.

Lambeth was the first London borough to begin construction on a BSF project. Over the years borough's educational provision has suffered, as limited capacity has forced many students to attend schools in surrounding boroughs. Over the next ten years BSF will bring £300m of educational funding to the borough. The aim is to transform all sixteen secondary sites in the borough and provide over 3,000 extra pupil places.

The Michael Tipett School in Lambeth, which originally operated on two sites at opposite ends of the borough, is both the first BSF school in London and the first Special Education Needs (SEN) school to be built under the BSF programme.

Designed by architect Marks Barfield, the £7m building is a secondary school for 80 special needs students, aged between 11 and 18, with profound and multiple learning difficulties.

The school offers a dynamic enviroment which is an examplar of the latest thought in SEN buildings design. Every aspect of the building has been structured specifically for the needs of the students, including a sensory room and garden, hydrotherapy pool, spacious changing facilities with hoists, a kitchen to help students develop basic cooking skills, a drama studio and community hall for sports and social activities.

The school was officially opened last year by the secretary of state for education, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, only nine months after work started on site and just 21 months after the design was first commissioned.

Head teacher Jan Stogdon said: "For many of our new students, communication is a real challenge. The input that students and staff have had throughout the design and construction process has helped our students understand the transition to a different site. We have all been amazed by how quickly the students have settled into their new surroundings and how excited they are by the new facilities on offer."

Architects Marks Barfield, creators of the London Eye, worked closely with the teachers and pupils at Michael Tipett, to create a school that would be focused on improving educational outcomes rather than just the renovation of buildings.

The construction and refurbishment of the sixteen planned BSF schools in the borough has been divided into two phases. Phase one inclues five schools, with the last school scheduled to be completed by 2010. Phase two includes eleven schools, with the last school expected to be completed by 2014.

Lambeth councillor Steve Reed says: "As a council and as politicians we see our responsibility to provide excellent local educational opportunities to local children as central to why local government matters. Here in Lambeth, we have grasped the BSF opportunity and are the most advanced in London. We have three schools complete, and one soon to be complete. We hope to have the same success with the Government's primary school capital programme."

Many local authorities are now busy planning the rebuilding and renewal of secondary schools in their area. The last year has seen acceleration across all phases of the BSF programme, with authorities in Waves 7-9, able to bring forward entry and deliver their schools sooner than previously planned.

In addition to the state of the art, sustainable, school facilities, the BSF programme will bring benefits to the community of each borough and London overall. Beyond the bricks and mortar of the buildings, the programme provides an opportunity to transform education and improve the life chances of young people in London, as well as improving access to educational facilities for communities at large. If Lambeth is a reasonable precedent then learning environments in schools across the land will soon be transformed so that ambitious education outcomes can be delivered.