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• December
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• Knowsley seals learning centre contract

Knowsley Council has awarded the contract for the construction of its seven new learning centres under the Building Schools for the Future programme to Transform Schools - a consortium led by Balfour Beatty.

It follows months of negotiations after the company was unveiled as the Council’s preferred bidder.

Knowsley’s £150m BSF plans to create 21st century learning environments will see all of the borough’s existing secondary schools replaced by state of the art learning centres.

Work has already started on five sites under an advance works agreement with Transform and will commence on the remaining two in April of next year. The first learning centre – at North Huyton – is due to open in January 2009 and all seven will be completed by January 2010.

Councillor Graham Wright, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “We are delighted to set the seal on this contract and look forward to working with the company as we progress our plans to transform education in Knowsley. Our proposals are genuinely ground-breaking and will combine up to date facilities and the latest technology with a modern curriculum and teaching methods.”

Ian Tyler, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, said:

“We are delighted to have reached financial close on this exciting project which will transform education provision in Knowsley. We bring the experience gained not only from our work on six other major schools PFI schemes but also lessons learned from personalised project-based learning schemes in the UK, US, Australia and Asia.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said: “We congratulate Knowsley on reaching this milestone. The borough’s plan to create seven new and innovative Learning Centres will benefit young people and the local community for decades to come, and provide teachers with high-quality environments which will support advances in educational delivery and technology.

"BSF will see every single one of our schools in England transformed, providing inspirational learning environments that help our young people to unlock the talent that each of them has and to reach for excellence."

Transform will work closely with Knowsley’s other BSF partner company RM who are providing the managed ICT infrastructure and personalised learning environment for the new learning centres.

Notes for Editors:

1. Knowsley’s seven new learning centres are:

• North Huyton Joint Catholic/Church of England Learning Centre
• Halewood Community Learning Centre
• Prescot and Whiston Community Learning Centre
• Kirkby Community Learning Centre
• South Huyton Community Learning Centre
• Prescot and Whiston RC Learning Centre
• Kirkby RC Learning Centre 

2. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every one of England’s 3,500 state secondary schools during the 15-year lifetime of the programme.

3. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for Building Schools for the Future. PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Partnerships UK.

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