BSF is the biggest single government investment in improving school buildings for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England over a 10-15 year period.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is it?
Salford Children’s Services Directorate has been allocated around £150 million to refurbish or rebuild nine of its high schools of which The Swinton High School is one.
The proposal relating to The Swinton High School is that we amalgamate with Moorside High School to form a mixed high school for 1350 pupils aged 11-16 years. The standard admission number for each year group will be 270 pupils. This proposal is open to full consultation which ends on a date to be specified in February 2009. A third phase of consultation relating to The Swinton and Moorside High schools is likely to then occur soon afterwards.
Is it good or bad news?
The governors’ position is that this is excellent news for the children who would choose to attend The Swinton High School in future years. It will not affect those pupils presently attending our high school in years 8 - 11 since the proposed improvements will take place after they have left. Pupils presently in year 7 and those in year 6 who transfer to The Swinton High School in September 2009 will only be affected in year 11 when they will continue to be taught by their same teacher in the same classes.
It is also good news for Swinton and Salford because we will have a state of the art High Performing Specialist School for the arts, mathematics and computing serving the community.
When will the school be built?
We expect the brand new building to be ready for 1st September 2012.
Where will the school be built?
We expect that the newly amalgamated school will be built on the land identified across the road from the present Moorside High School site.
How will this improve our community?
There is substantial evidence that a successful thriving high school which works in partnership with its community can be a positive force for the economic well being, regeneration, self esteem and confidence of that community. This is an ambitious role and a responsibility which we would be privileged to assume.
How much will the new school cost?
While there are no figures quoted for each school, we would expect the newly amalgamated school to be a substantial investment in Salford’s future.
What are the governors doing next?
The governors of The Swinton High School are committed to working in partnership with the governing body of Moorside High School and Salford Children’s Services Directorate to secure the best possible provision for our two school communities in anticipation of the day when we become one successful, thriving school in 2012.
Will there be money for computers?
£17 million is likely to be allocated to ICT computers and modern technology across Salford. We can expect that the newly amalgamated high school will have a proportionate and substantial investment in computers and modern technology on a scale previously only ever dreamt of.
What does this mean for children presently in primary schools who choose either The Swinton or Moorside High School?
Junior age children are likely to start at either The Swinton or Moorside High School and then transfer together to the newly amalgamated high school in September 2012. More details of how this would happen are likely to become clear in the next few months.
Will the new school be a specialist school?
We expect that the new school will have High Performing Specialist School status in the arts, mathematics and computing.
What about children transferring from Clifton and the neighbouring area?
Children from this neighbourhood will be given admission priority.
What about uniform?
These details will be worked out a lot nearer the time.
Keep checking back to the website to find out more news as we know it.
John Biddlestone
(Headteacher)
November 2008
Public Statement on Salford’s
Building Schools For The Future
Proposals
14th November 2008
“The proposal under Building Schools For The Future to build a brand new high school in Swinton is excellent news for the children and the community of Swinton and Salford. We will work with Moorside High School, members of Salford Children’s Services Directorate and all community partners to ensure that our future pupils have the best possible facilities and equipment in a brand new high school building on the proposed site.
It has long been our vision for our community to have a brand new purpose built school with community sports and performing arts facilities and this exciting announcement brings us considerably nearer to realizing that vision by 2012.
Our pupils and staff deserve the best possible buildings, staffing and technology available to give our pupils the flying start in life that they deserve and we look forward with great enthusiasm to the opportunities that a brand new high school in Swinton will bring us. The proposed amalgamation between The Swinton and Moorside High Schools will enable us to bring out the best features of those schools to provide an outstanding education for our pupils in a specialist school for the Arts, mathematics and computing.
We will continue to work in partnership with our neighbours and look forward to planning our new school with all interested parties at their earliest convenience.”
Statement released and approved by:
Mrs. J. Davies, Chair of Governing Body
The Swinton High School,
a high performing specialist school
Councillor (Swinton North) Jim Dawson, Vice Chair of Governing Body
The Swinton High School,
a specialist college for the performing arts
Mr. John Biddlestone, Headteacher
The Swinton High School,
a high performing specialist school