A significant investment in school building was made during the Victorian era and then again in the 1950s baby-boom. This building stock is rapidly reaching the end of its lifespan and the government is committed to rebuilding or refurbishing all our schools over the next 15 years through the Building Schools for the Future programme.

At the same time educationalists are reaching a growing consensus that our current pedagogy, essentially Victorian in nature, is also reaching the end of its natural life. All around the world, innovative schools are adopting new approaches to education delivery made possible by advancements in ICT and school design.

4Thought Consulting exists to help everyone with an interest in education to understand these changes and to ensure that the new schools that we build will support education for the next two generations of young people. Our support package for schools can be tailored to the individual needs of any particular learning community. This could simply be a single day of consultancy to a full capital investment support programme.

Step 1 - Educational Visioning
A critical question to be asked, before even considering design related issues, is "what kind of learning community do we aspire to be?"
4Thought Consulting can lead this consultative process with school SMTs and broader stakeholder groups so that the pedagogical undergirding of the school community can be assessed and put into a form that architects can understand and respond to. We can provide an appropriate challenge and bring experience of many other innovative schools from around the world. In this way you can be sure that the issue of your educational vision has been examined fully from every angle and that your future capital investment will be well made.

Step 2 - Design Development
Once the educational vision has been established, this needs to be communicated to architects, furniture specialists and engineers. 4Thought Consulting has experience of providing this valuable link between schools and design professionals and, in this way, we can ensure that your original aspirations are not lost in the midst of a complex process. We can lead design workshops and inspirational visits to expand the design vocabulary of your stakeholders.

Step 3 - Contract Phase
The negotiaton of a Design & Build (D&B) contract is complex. 4Thought Consulting can provide access to a variety of support through this phase to ensure that the needs and interests of a school are not put at risk during this period. A significant amount of money can be thrown away during the development of the contracts if steps 1 and 2 above have not been thoroughly completed and communicated.

Step 4 - Construction and Change Management Phase
It is important that educational momentum is not lost once the bulldozers roll onto site. In addition to the requirement to monitor the progress of the construction and to ensure that variations are handled effectively, it is important to consider life in the new building. If your new school is designed to support a different model of educational delivery then it is important that you work with all members of your community to plan for this. We can provide support and training for your teachers, students, parents and wider community to make sure that everyone becomes a confident user of the new school once it opens.

To discuss these ideas, or any other ways in which 4Thought Consulting might support your capital investment programme, then please refer to the Contact Us section of this website.