BSEC highlights at a glance

The BSEC conference for education construction professionals took place last Wednesday and Thursday at London's Excel Centre. Here we're pulled out some of the key moments from the event, which was attended by more than 6,000 visitors from across the construction and education sectors.

What they said:

Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, said that he expected to see a greater use of frameworks in schools procurement, whatever happens at the next election. He said that Partnerships for Schools' second procurement review would report in the summer, and said it would make “significant progress” towards a 52-week procurement process. The review is considering issues around centralising the pqq process, design sampling, and ICT procurement.

Anna Fazackerley, of the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, told delegates that the UK was being “prevented from creativity” in school buildings by a “restrictive planning process.” She said: “I imagine that a new Conservative government would focus as a priority on reforming the planning system.”

What they did:

Cabe launched a client guide to primary school buildings, called “creating excellent primary schools.” The guide uses 15 case studies to highlight ways of achieving effective, sustainable design and stakeholder engagement on primary school projects, often against a backdrop of limited resources.

The Danish embassy hosted a series of presentations from companies involved in designing and fitting out Denmark's new schools, attracting a flood of delegates interested in new ways of designing schools under the next government. Highlights included discussion of the Ørestad College, an award winning design which operates without corridors and traditional classrooms and focuses on social spaces and student interaction.

Architect 3DReid unveiled an innovative modular learning environment that can be turned on any of its seven sides to create a flexible outdoor learning space. The concept, 'rotatED' is a modular shelter designed in collaboration with Blue Forest which can be adapted for learning, play or performance.

Almost £5,000 was raised for the charity Transformation Trust thanks to the generosity of guests at Wednesday night’s BSEC dinner. The trust, which was set up last July, funds extra-curricular activities in secondary schools and will be showcasing its work in a celebration attended by 14,000 children this summer.

What they tweeted

(for more, see the Twitter feed):

@DevonBSF: Ahhhh, #BSEC was great. We're back to work today, concentrating on the Strategy for Change www.devon.gov.uk/bsf

ianfordham: Came back from #BSEC and my son has 2 new teeth and is almost walking - I did feel it lasted a lifetime!

@Zerochamp: Picture of giant chicken on the #bsec live blog http://ow.ly/1bala - They have stolen my identity

@timbuckteeth Stephen Heppell at #bsec on a hung parliament: "Hanging a government sounds very interesting."

@alexcj: "BSF - anyone else feel like “educational transformation” is a much trumpeted idea with no practical substance?"