The Barclay School

BSF Update

On Monday 5 July Michael Gove announced the ending of the national BSF project. 

The plans for Barclay are described as being ‘stopped’.  I have been informed by Simon Newland, who is Head of School Planning and BSF Director for Hertfordshire, that:

‘The description of the non-sample schools as "stopped" does not mean that they will never proceed, but that the funding regime within which judgements are made will be different. The prospects round this will become clear in October once the Comprehensive Spending review and DfE capital reviews are completed’.

Of course this is very disappointing.  However, it does not come as a surprise when we know the scale of savings that need to be made.  We shall continue to improve learning environments for students at Barclay and shall seek alternative ways of refurbishing our accommodation.  The most important element in effective learning is effective teaching.  We will continue to provide this for our students and will continue our efforts to improve further.

Whilst it may have been the building that made Barclay special in 1949, it has long since been our ethos of enabling all our children to succeed, our community focus and the quality of our relationships with our partners that makes us such a special school.  I am very confident that they will survive this setback to our plans.

J Beacom
Headteacher