And today's lesson is ...

Many schools across the country are large unattractive institutions with endless wooden corridors and uninspiring classrooms.

Well, this conventional way of thinking has been ripped up by a head teacher, contractors, artists and architects involved in the £15m Bishops Park College, in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

The school opened its doors in April and is a major attraction for the area. Despite its cosy, old-fashioned sea-and-sand image, Clacton has some of the most seriously deprived areas in the country. The new flagship school, though, is something the area should be proud of.

The ambitious project is part of a larger £100m deal with Essex County Council that will see QED, the schools PFI arm of the Wates Group, work on three schools in the area. Architects Co-Partnership (ACP) designed the school.

Mike Davis, Headteacher of Bishops Park, says the aims were to build a school that would provide a unique learning experience.

Schools within a school

Davis had clear visions of what he wanted from the school. He was inspired by an example in Boston, USA, where large failing schools were broken up into smaller schools. Large schools can be impersonal and adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Smaller schools allow for a more intimate relationship and a better understanding of the students’ needs.

The brief was to come up with a design that would cater for 900 students, all organised into three separate ‘self-contained’ schools. Each would have general and specialist classrooms that include IT, woodwork or food technology. This is the school a child will remain in for his or her school life.

Davis says he wanted to create a school that was built around people and community and not subjects. So out went designs that focused on designated wings for, say, modern languages or science and technology. Instead, the site houses a library for school and public use, a support centre for the over-60s and a nursery.

Lloyd Stratton, chairman of ACP, says it was a challenging project as there was no precedent. However he says Davis was a visionary and a good client. “He knows what he wants and was not afraid to ask for it.”

Everyone is aware that school can be a terrifying experience for some children. Statistics on bullying are chilling, but this school attempts to ‘design it out’.

headteacher mike davis is a visionary. he knows what he wants and was not afraid to ask for it

Lloyd Stratton, chairman, ACP

“It was very important to have lots of “natural policing and good site lines,” says Stratton. Therefore enclosed staircases, long dreary corridors and large toilet areas were all rejected. The school also has CCTV.

In came open staircases, a large atrium. large windows and a school that felt airy. As teachers walk round the building, they have a clear view of what is happening inside and outside each classroom.

An artist was also brought in to work with the pupils to provide artwork that was integrated into the design.

‘Where children can excel’

Classrooms have been built with flexibility in mind, and have moveable walls so they can be extended. There is a lift and good access for people with disabilities.

Shared access comes in the form of a large atrium, the central focus of the school, which is also used as a dining area and for drama.

Richard White, operations manager for Wates at Clacton, says it was a stimulating project to work on: “It was never just about building a school, but a place that would inspire students and where teachers could encourage the children to excel.”

The toughest part? “Making sure that all these conflicting ideas, needs and wants [were met] to satisfy all those people and meet the programme,” says White. “It’s very easy for them to say ‘that’s not quite right’. But the clock does not stop ticking, so we had to be quite firm with the deadlines.

“They needed to understand what they could afford, what we could afford and what they could actually have just to keep the thing rolling along. The project could have ground to a complete stop, and we’d still be looking at brick work halfway up.”

The school is already proving to be a hit with the children. For Davis, the building is worthy of an A*. “The final design now has a sense of belonging, security and it’s about learning,” he says.