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3.2
CONSULTATION
The Rethinking
Construction initiative encourages a focus on the customer as a
key player in the success of a building project. It is very important
that right from the beginning of a school building project
there
is proper consultation with the staff and pupils of the school and
the wider community. The school and its community must decide what
they need and want both for the immediate and longer term future.
School consultation should involve both staff and pupils. The Guardian
newspaper’s School I'd Like competition attracted over 15,000 entries
from pupils all over the country. The findings and the winning entries
were published in the Guardian of 5th June 2001. Some of the most
popular things that pupils wanted were:
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'Home-from-home' environment;
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Good furniture;
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Safe schools;
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Drinking water easily available;
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Better toilets;
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Quiet study rooms, 'chill-out' rooms;
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Lockers;
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Exciting ways of learning.
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All
potential users in the community should be consulted in order
to assess local and individual needs as it may be possible
to include facilities that the community lacks, such as a
nursery, library, or sports hall, in the school building project.
This approach will help to encourage greater use of the building,
develop trust between all parties and add to the feeling of
community and ownership.
Other local schools, both primary and secondary, that are
likely to be affected because their pupils might use the school,
should also be consulted.
Consultation and feedback should continue through the construction
period. Newsletters, websites and displays can all be used
to update local users, clients and other interested groups
on progress. Where work is taking place at an existing school,
finding ways of linking the project to the curriculum can
benefit pupils and encourage a positive attitude to the work
taking place.
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LATYMER UPPER SCHOOL, Arts Centre and Theatre,Hammersmith, London; Slotting new facilities onto a site can be an opportunity
to involve the local community and other nearby schools. Consultation
can help ensure local needs are met.
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