Project shortlisted for national award
Somerset's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award after it won through to the finals yesterday (Monday 13 Oct).
Somerset County Council's BSF programme, which has started first in Bridgwater, has been chosen by Partnership for Schools, the national government body which delivers the project across England.
Nearly a third of all secondary schools, in 85 local authorities, are now involved in the BSF programme and BSF Somerset was chosen as one of six finalists in the category Innovation in Student Engagement.
"We have worked extremely hard to make sure our students are consulted and involved as much as possible, so we are delighted with the nomination," said Julia Ridge, Programme Director for Somerset BSF.
The BSF programme in Somerset has started with the process to select a bidder to completely rebuild Bridgwater's four secondary and two special schools in a £100 million project. Other parts of the county will follow in different stages.
From the first consultations in 2006 to recent schools' evaluations of bidders, where students' views also played a part, student engagement has involved Bridgwater's primary, secondary and special schools in a wide variety of ways.
Most recently, there has been in-depth student involvement through design and public art, where BSF has worked with the Real Ideas Organisation to create student Ambassador and Public Art Commissioning Groups, which will influence important aspects of the new Bridgwater schools.
The national Partnership for Schools awards involved expert judges, including representatives from the design community, construction industry, educationalists, students and others. They have now selected the BSF projects in 18 categories which are in line to win one of the Excellence in BSF Awards.

Caption: Student consultation - students at Elmwood School give their views to artists Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer, who will work with the chosen bidder on public art for the schools.