Creating a vision for Bexhill's new high school

Representatives from parents, teachers, pupils, governors, East Sussex County Council, and the local community, have held a meeting to discuss a vision for the 37m new school which should be completed in time for the start of the academic year in 2010.

Cllr Keith Glazier, the county council's Lead Cabinet Member for Children and Adult Services said: "The purpose of this meeting was to get together those who have a vested interest in how the new school will look and work for all concerned. We wanted to ensure that, where possible, their views were included in the design brief that went to the architects."

The new Bexhill High School will be built with 33m from the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme and 4m of additional funding from the county council. Any detailed vision will have to live within that funding envelope. The council is currently selecting architects and building contractors for the exciting project and work is set to begin next year.

In the wide-ranging discussions, various key conclusions were reached. The meeting agreed that environmental aspects of the building should be a top priority and that the building should be made up of attractive, flexible and adaptable learning spaces with a central area to create a sense of community within the building. It was also agreed that it should be designed to not just be a school but a real community resource which was accessible to all sections of the community.

Penny Gaunt, the county council's Deputy Director for Learning and School Effectiveness said after the meeting: "We had an initial vision which secured the funding for this project and now we want to build on that. This meeting was the next step in drawing up ideas for the design brief that will inform the architects.

"We had some really good, useful discussion and now have a wealth of ideas and information on what people would like the new building to look like and how they would like it to work, not just for the pupils but for the community as a whole. The next step is to take forward these ideas and see how we can include them in the architect's brief."

Bexhill Principal, Mike Conn, said the meeting had been extremely positive. He added: "What we have seen today is magnificent enthusiasm and creativity. This is a journey and one which will be exciting for all concerned. As a start this was fantastic."

The new school will provide high quality academic education in state-of-the-art buildings as well as excellent vocational training opportunities for students both at the school and from other schools in the area. But it also promises to be a facility for the whole community which will contribute to the economic development of the Bexhill area.

A project board has been set up to drive the plans forward and pupils are already using the plans as part of their learning. At the meeting key areas such as teaching and learning facilities, security, safety, environmental issues, provision for 14-19 vocational education, links with local business, and provision for extended school services were discussed.