Brislington Enterprise College: Light and airy or a prison?

Brislington Enterprise College has opened its doors to its first customers.  

What they think of their new school could hardly be more important: this is one of the first fruits of the Building Schools for the Future initiative, so they are also passing judgment on a centrepiece of government policy.

The good news for Labour is that the general reaction seems to be positive. Alice Lamb, 15, says: “When you walk in, you feel as if you really matter. It’s colourful, light and airy.”

Jason Skinner, 12, puts it more succinctly: “The old building was rubbish, but this is cool.”

Liz Drew, 15, went into more detail: “It’s really clean and cheery, plus there’s tiered seating in the assembly room which is a really good idea. It’s all very high tech, too, and the computer rooms are supposed to be amazing though we’ve not had a chance to use them yet.”

I love the new dance area because it’s all so clean and organised; the old building was a mess and really dark and dingy

Lily Bland, 15

Not all of the critics were entirely bowled over by the temple of learning, however. Thirteen-year-old Olly Lewis thought it looked “a bit prison-like when I first came in – it felt a bit kind of empty”.

The £34m facility is the third to be completed by the Bristol Education Partnership and Skanska. Based on a “schools within a school design”, the facility is made up of seven “learning communities” or mini schools. As the school has a capacity of 1,755 students and about 160 staff, the aim of the mini-schools is to provide more intimate learning environments. Students will spend about 60% of their time in them and the remainder in shared areas for subjects such as dance, PE and art.

The college has biomass heating and a rainwater system to flush its toilets; and it makes full use of natural ventilation and light. These all contribute to a BREEAM rating of “very good”.