Issue - meetings

Councillor Lorna Reith, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, introduced the item and noted that over £200M would be invested in schools in the Borough as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. 

In addition to improving the facilities provided within schools for children and young people there was also a focus on providing new facilities for the whole of the local community. The Local Authority would be encouraging Head Teachers and School Governors to open up the new facilities for greater community use. It was anticipated that this approach would also foster a closer relationship between the schools, communities and parents.

The two schools receiving funding in the Tottenham and Seven Sisters area were John Loughborough and Gladesmore; (as well as the  Parkview Academy at the border of area).  An overview was given of the work being carried out and questions were taken.

It was noted that there was a standard specification that buildings constructed as part of the scheme were expected to achieve in terms of sustainability. However, in some cases there were restrictions due to existing buildings or certain site constraints, which meant that sustainable features could not be implemented as fully as they would be in new buildings.

In response to concerns that schools would not be willing to open up their facilities for use during the evening and weekends, Councillor Reith advised that she was raising this issue with Head Teachers and encouraging them to take a flexible approach to this. However, schools and Governors could not be compelled by the Local Authority to cooperate.

The new IT facilities being installed were discussed and concerns over the use of laptops were recognized. However, it was noted that technology developed rapidly and there was a need to balance this against providing facilities that could be adapted to meet these changing requirements.