I read with interest your interview with Tim Byles regarding Building Schools for the Future (BSF) (School plan is to build, not demolish).

I note that he uses the mantra: "We are in the business of educational transformation; this is not a bricks and mortar project".

However, the examples he quotes are all linked to administration and facilities management rather than teaching and learning or the engagement of reluctant learners.

Where is the talk of personalising learning with engaging online resources sorted by learning type and ability? Where is the access to media-rich learning on an individual basis? Where is the principle of anywhere, anytime learning that allows our most able to access advanced learning material to extend their horizons, while at the same time allowing a child off school to catch up with missed work?

The administration systems are important, and engagement of parents in their children's learning is vital, but the learning activities are missing from this view of BSF. The danger of BSF is
re-creating the same education system in new buildings, and that will not transform education.

Our children deserve better learning environments than the tired and worn out schools they occupy. BSF is a long overdue investment in our education infrastructure and we must applaud our government for making this commitment. All is far from perfect, however. Is educational transformation at the forefront when schools are told by architects that, because of heat considerations, there should be no more than five PCs in a classroom?

Children find learning most engaging when they are trying something new in an environment where they feel safe and secure in case something goes wrong.

Well, BSF is certainly trying something new but as for feeling safe and secure?

Stephen Douglas
City Learning Centre Manager