A newly-built school in Hackney, East London, could become a model for schools worldwide after it featured in a presentation at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on February 21, 2012.
The Urswick School, in its former life as Hackney Free and Parochial School, was run-down and under-achieving - but since undergoing regeneration under the Building Schools for the Future programme it has not only seen huge improvements in academic and behavioural standards, but has also had a massively positive impact upon the local community.
The Urswick School story was part of a presentation made by Anthony Coumidis, a director of London-based international property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper, at the United Nations in Geneva, to more than 400 Public-Private Partnership practitioners from 70 countries.
Anthony’s team were independent certifiers of the project, appointed by the local authority in Hackney and the Building Schools for the Future Local Education Partnership (private sector and local authority JV organisation, Mouchel Babcock Education and Hackney Council), which involved McBains Cooper ensuring the project complied with technical and quality requirements.
“Because of our role we were provided with the opportunity to ensure the project maintained schedule and standards, but it also gave us a fantastic opportunity to chart the before and after aspects,” said Anthony Coumidis.
“We monitored the reconstruction, but we also engaged with the school; what we learnt was that not only did the new school prove inspirational on academic and behavioural levels, it also had a significant and positive impact for the local community, with the new school facilities being used out-of-hours by the local community for everything from choir practice to sports events.
“But the school also became a learning centre for other local schools, with entire classes being walked over to The Urswick School for educational experiences they’d never before experienced in, for instance, science labs.”
Anthony chaired the “Transforming Urban and Rural Spaces through PPPs” session.
“Such a presentation and ensuing debate and discussion highlighted what can be achieved to a wide range of representatives of influencing authorities and organisations in dozens of countries,” said Anthony.
“There’s no room for modesty here, because there is great benefit to be gained: British property and construction consultancies are the most advanced in the world when it comes to brokering, driving and delivering PPP projects, so there is a very real chance that The Urswick School could become a model for similar regeneration projects around the world.”
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Days is the premier global meeting for public sector PPP practitioners. It provides a forum for those charged with developing and implementing PPP programs to share experiences on innovations in PPP policy, structuring, and financing. The four-day conference brings together PPP practitioners from public sector PPP units and senior PPP executives worldwide to analyze and explore innovative PPP models and key policy issues.
The PPP Days 2012 takes place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21-24 February 2012, and is jointly hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Bank Institute and the Asian Development Bank.
