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THE 21ST CENTURY SCHOOL
BUILDING OUR FUTURE: SCOTLAND'S SCHOOL ESTATE
1 INTRODUCTION
1. This guidance provides details on a range of policies that impact on the delivery of better public services through the school estate. It has been developed as part of the school estate strategy, and complements the strategy document Building our Future: Scotland's School Estate. 1The strategy recognises the importance of good school buildings in meeting a range of policy objectives and has published this guide to highlight policies which impact upon the school estate.
2. This guide is in three sections:
3. Section 3 sets out a summary of each policy, together with references and a contact for further information. These are organised alphabetically for ease of reference.
4. This guidance is aimed at local authorities and other stakeholders with an interest in creating a school estate suited to the needs of users. This includes pupils, staff, communities, local authorities, architects along with construction and financial professionals.
2 CONTEXT
STRATEGY
1. Building our Future: Scotland's School Estate sets out the vision and objectives to improve the school estate over the long term.
2. The vision is for:
- Well designed, well built and well managed schools that:
- support national and local priorities
- inspire children and young people and communities.
- A future school estate that:
- meets our aspirations
- responds to evolving needs
- is effectively managed and maintained over the long term.
3. The objectives for the 21st century school are:
- to deliver better public services through the school environment that focus on:
- the child at the centre - meeting the needs of individual children
- the school at the heart of the community - meeting the needs of the communities.
- to deliver those services, in respect of the school estate, through the right:
- condition - a safe, secure environment
- sufficiency - schools that match demand
- suitability - supporting the delivery of better public services including the provision of the right facilities
- life cycle management - taking the long term view
- design - turning our objectives into reality.
4. In shaping the future school estate in Scotland to meet the needs of pupils, teachers and the wider community for years to come, local authorities need to take account of a wide range of policies which affect service delivery.
5. This guidance describes a range of policies which impact on the delivery of services through the school estate. They vary from detailed matters of educational policy, such as curriculum developments, to developments in community planning and initiatives in childcare policy.
6. As many of these issues are diverse in nature, there are many points at which they may intersect with the school estate. And as these policies develop the points of intersection will change. This document captures the state of play as it is now, providing a snapshot of the breadth and diversity of policies, which affect the school estate. We know that new issues will arise over time.
7. The school estate strategy recognises that the best local solutions are those which suit local circumstances. The challenge for local authorities in considering the future of their school estate is to build flexibility into their plans. This means the ability to take account of issues on the horizon and to respond to them appropriately. Long term thinking and planning is essential if the school estate is to serve the interests of all its stakeholders over time.
8. In shaping local solutions for local circumstances it is important that the range of issues impacting on the school estate are taken into account. Balancing competing interests and implementing the right balance of solutions locally will be important, as there is no simple answer or definitive answer to suit all circumstances; no single blueprint will fit.
9. As policies are evolving, local authorities and others involved in school estate issues will wish to keep abreast of developments. Information on the range of Scottish Executive policies is available on the Scottish Executive website - www.scotland.gov.uk - while the school estate website - www.scotland.gov.uk/schoolestate - provides information on the school estate and developments with related policies.
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