Huge school revamp planned by Council

Rochdale Borough Council is in the final stages of choosing a partner to work on its £196 million Building Schools for the Future Programme that will transform the borough’s secondary schools.

Two consortia – ‘Galliford Try’ and ‘Inspired Spaces’ have just been selected to go forward to the next stage of procurement.

The successful bidder will become the council’s local education partner, responsible for rebuilding and refurbishing 14 schools across the borough.

These will include four brand new schools at Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College, Milnrow, Holy Family RC/CE College, Heywood, Falinge High School, Rochdale, and Wardle High School. There will also be two new pupil referral units and one new special school.

Bidders are now being assessed on what they will bring to the partnership in terms of education transformation, sustainability, social inclusion, value for money, design and how they support regeneration.

Councillor Irene Davidson, Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families said Building Schools for the Future is a once in a lifetime opportunity:

“It’s a real chance to provide our young people with the facilities and resources they need to deliver excellence, and we are delighted to have attracted well-known and respected consortia to work with us. All our students, teachers and the local community will benefit enormously from this investment.

“It is our job to choose the partner that can best work with us to transform how teaching and learning takes place in our schools, not only in terms of improvements to school buildings but also with the most up-to-date technology and resources.”

The council will select one of the two shortlisted bidders to be its preferred bidder in July 2009, with construction due to start at Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College and Siddal Moor Sports College in early 2010.

The partnership will aim to complete the programme by 2014.