1. We are WSP
  2. What we do
  3. Projects

As technical adviser to the Department for Education (DfE), we are working with contractors on more than 20 school rebuilding projects to ensure they fulfil our client’s expectations.

The UK Government’s School Rebuilding Programme carries out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at schools and sixth-form colleges across England. Buildings are prioritised according to their condition and there are currently 518 projects in the programme.

WSP’s in-house clerk of works and construction design management services are playing a key role in the programme, helping the department transform schools in need of renovation. We are working with design-and-build contractors to deliver complex rebuilding and refurbishment projects at more than 20 live school sites, ranging from large secondaries with 2,000 pupils, to small primary schools.

One of these is St Ann’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Stretford, Greater Manchester, whose buildings had reached the end of their design life and needed replacing. At St Ann’s, we advised on a circa £11m project in two phases: first constructing new premises for the school, then demolishing the old buildings to create a new playground and playing fields. The new facility creates an exemplary learning environment for 445 pupils and is the one of the first net zero carbon operation school in the Country.

in-page-st-annes-case-study

The project began with a 32-week feasibility phase, during which we surveyed and assessed the existing school buildings before working with the DfE to determine the most appropriate solution. We then helped the department to tender and appoint a suitable contractor, Galliford Try, from those on its framework. With Galliford Try taking the design-and-build contract forward, we fulfilled a contract management and advisory role – providing clerk of works, employer’s agent and construction design management services.

Our job was to deliver our client’s key expectations for the project. It was vital to avoid disrupting ongoing education at the school, and to hand the new buildings over in time for the start of term in September 2024. We also had to ensure the innovative, sustainable building was delivered within the standards DfE has set out in detail across 15 annexe documents, as well as ensuring the contractor’s compliance with their own detailed proposals.

Galliford Try adopted a pre-cast concrete panel system for the project, reducing the need for on-site trades and enhancing the speed, accuracy and quality of construction. To ensure everything met the DfE specifications, we familiarised ourselves with the system and its interfaces with other elements of the building. Eliminating fossil fuels, the school uses air-source heat pumps, innovative ventilation systems, solar panels, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery and a building management system to create a comfortable, energy-efficient environment.

During construction, our clerk of works visited the site every week to check that all of this was being built correctly according to British Standards, manufacturers’ requirements and DfE specifications. He compiled a weekly diary on 44 key items required by the DfE and produced a monthly summary to give our client a clear overview. 

Where the contractor wanted to take an approach that fell outside the guidance, our clerk of works was able to draw on wider expertise within WSP to advise on the most suitable option. Throughout the project our aim was to build an effective working relationship with Galliford Try by being open, honest and accurate.

I adopted a collaborative, proactive approach. Whenever I was on site, I was thinking ahead to potential challenges and finding solutions that worked well for everyone: the school, the contractor and the DfE. To us at WSP, that’s what the clerk of works role should be all about.

Our attention to detail was key the delivery of St Ann’s much needed upgrade and we’re applying the same approach on other projects in the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme. These include the new All Saints’ Roman Catholic Language College in Rossendale. This new three-storey school includes classrooms, a drama studio, a design technology workshop, an art room, science labs, a library, and a dining hall. Meanwhile at Minsthorpe  Community College in South Elmsall we’re advising on the construction of a new sports hall and associated facilities as well as the refurbishment of several existing blocks. This refurbishment requires careful coordination, with temporary classrooms and even a temporary kitchen provided during the works.

Across all these projects and others, we are focussed firmly on helping the school rebuilding programme achieve the DfE’s high aspirations.