Place Group has been successfully appointed to initially manage the feasibility phase of an exciting opportunity to establish boarding places at the Harefield Academy. The Academy opened in 2005 and is due to move into new buildings in September 2008. It specialises in sport and is striving to become a Centre of Sporting Excellence - and to support its aims, funding has been made available to explore the addition of a 50 place boarding facility.

Hampshire County Council has commissioned Place Group to assist with the early preparation of its BSF programme. This initial engagement will be focused on establishing a plan to highlight the necessary actions to effectively communicate the aspirations of Hampshire County Council and its many stakeholders.

Place Group has been supporting a number of its local authority clients in the final stages of preparing their Primary Capital Programme Strategy for Change which was submitted this month. Client Director Helen Ryan commented, "We have supported a number of authorities in recognising the need to join up when considering how they will use their PCP allocation. This includes developing and communicating the context, background, vision and rationale of what is needed and how schemes will be prioritised. This requires an effective consultation plan to be underway to ensure that stakeholders understand and buy in to outline plans.”

Place Group has taken its total number of Academy projects to 24 after being appointed as Project Manager and Education Advisor for the Francis Combe Academy in Watford. Richard Stone, Place Group’s Academies Director highlighted that, "In responding to this opportunity, Place Group recognised that the Francis Combe Academy represents an outstanding opportunity for the development of a community-focused school in Watford. Sponsored by West Herts College, it brings a powerful coalition of collaborative partners in the form of the School, the College and Hertfordshire University. The Academy will be a local school for local children, serving a local community and playing a key role within the existing family of secondary schools in Watford."

Place Group has been appointed as Project Manager and Education Advisor to establish an 11-16 Academy with six forms of entry, on the site of the existing Hayward School. Jim Lythgow, Place Group’s Project Director commented, "We are very happy to have been selected to support the establishment of this Academy which is sponsored by the ESSA Foundation with Bolton Council as co-sponsor, working in wider partnership with the University of Bolton.

We will have an important role in supporting the sponsors to ensure that they meet their aim of creating an Academy that is driven by the needs of the community which the school serves - and being a key factor in addressing some of Bolton's community cohesion plans. This Academy will also further enable young people and their families in the area to access new learning opportunities."

Oasis Community Learning has selected Place Group as an education consultancy framework provider to support the establishment of future Oasis Academies. Oasis is currently sponsoring some 10 Academies and Place Group is already providing specific support to the Coulsdon Academy project in the London Borough of Croydon.

Place Group has been appointed by Nottinghamshire County Council to support the ongoing development of its BSF programme. Client Director Helen Ryan expressed her delight in Place Group being successful in the tender process by saying, "We are excited to have been chosen by Nottinghamshire County Council.

This is the first phase of a considerable BSF programme and our experience from supporting other local authority BSF programmes will be vital in helping them meet a demanding timetable to secure the investment and hence, impact on the outcomes for learners. We have maintained a relationship with Nottinghamshire for a number of years and believe we will add real value to their programme".

Place Group has been commissioned by the DCSF to project manage the implementation of Manchester’s Academies Programme; to establish seven distinct Academies, each centres of excellence with specific specialisms and characteristics. Known as the ‘Manchester Model’, the programme is a partnership between the City Council and Manchester-based businesses and education institutions, to collaborate across districts and share sponsors’ influences with other schools and transform ambitions and routes into work for young people right across the city.

Place Group has been appointed as Project Manager and Education Advisor via its position on the DCSF Academies framework. Under the current plans, the new Academy would cater for 1,150 11 to 18 year olds, including a sixth form for up to 250 students. The proposed new Academy would come into being from 1st September 2008 and would specialise in science and the visual arts.

There are three sponsors – The Leigh Technology Academy Trust, the lead Sponsor; the University of Kent and Kent County Council. The proposed new Academy would become part of a hard federation with The Leigh Technology Academy in Dartford, Kent, with a single governing body responsible for both schools.

Place Group will be responsible for the delivery of three Federated Academies in Essex under the Accelerated Pathfinder Academies programme. The academies are the first to be sponsored by a high performing school, the Greensward Charitable Trust, and will come under the strategic leadership of a single Trust to be known as the Academies Enterprise Trust.

As a Pathfinder, the Trust will be demonstrating how it will be commissioned by the Local Authority to provide high quality education to over three thousand students based on the successful model developed at Greensward College. The Academies are programmed to open in September 2008 under an accelerated procedure. The role covers all aspects of delivery, including the vision and ethos, extensive stakeholder consultation and engagement, Academy policies, governance, curriculum, staffing, finance and ultimately the building design.

Place Group has recently secured the implementation phase of the Richard Rose Central Academy and the new Morton Academy, both in Carlisle. With the same sponsors for both we hope to develop a federated model in conjunction with the Department, ensuring that young people in Carlisle have the best possible opportunities to access the very best 21st Century learning.

In November, Place Group was appointed as education adviser to North East Lincolnshire and their Wave 5 BSF programme. Seven schools will benefit from BSF funding and this will complement the developments taking place already in their Academies and TCF work. Place Group will support schools in preparing for their Strategy for Change submissions as well as working alongside the Authority to help them prepare their Outline Business Case.

Supporting the BSF programme and building upon Place Group’s previous work in the Borough. Client Director Alan Kavanagh comments, “Haringey has followed an innovative path in procuring its partners to deliver their BSF programme, which includes a framework of construction partners and an ICT partner. It is very important to recognise that Haringey’s aims go far beyond simply replacing school buildings and we are delighted to be in a position to support them further in delivering the vision.”

On 5th October, school minister Lord Adonis officially launched Belvedere Independent School for Girls in Liverpool as an Academy. Belvedere is the first independent school to end its tradition as a fee-paying institution. Lord Adonis commented, “Education is not just about exam results and what goes on in the classroom. The Belvedere Academy will preserve all that is excellent and extend it more widely”. Place Group was the overall project manager in transitioning the school into an Academy.

Following the success of this year’s ADCS and EMIE School Organisation: Partnering for Success Conference. Place Group will be one of the keynote speakers at next year’s conference to be held on Friday 14th March at The Midland Hotel in Manchester. The one-day conference will focus on how schools are working in partnership with each other and with external bodies, as one means to improving access to educational provision and enabling school improvement.

During September, the New Line Learning Academy and Cornwallis Academy in South Maidstone, Kent was officially opened and is on target to see both academies rebuilt on the Cornwallis and Oldborough sites respectively by September 2010. The Place Group team is working closely with the DSCF and the sponsors in providing the overall project management and educational advisory services to ensure the academies are brought to fruition.