Bentley Park College

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Innovation in Planning, Programming & Design Processes

The development of this school started with the establishment of a conventional primary school (Grades P — 7) in 1998.

The decision in 1999 to construct a secondary school on the adjacent site provided an opportunity to rethink educational provision within an integrated Preschool to Grade 12 format.

It was recognised by the state department of education that a paradigm shift in education delivery was needed to target the special needs of adolescent students and to reduce the growing disengagement of students particularly during early adolescence. This school became the first in a series of three schools in the state which are being developed to trial this alternative approach.

Aimed at addressing social & learning issues in a different way the outcome is a significant departure from the standard education solutions in this state. However, it was not just the concept that was ground breaking.

The development of the brief and the planning process also ventured into new community focused, consultative territory not previously the preserve of the state education authority. The new school brief was generated through an extensive consultation process involving.
·Practising teachers, including primary & secondary teachers & guidance officers.
·School reference committee
·Central Office Personnel
·Educators from other states·

The design team

Two themes underpin the brief that was developed. The first was that the new education facility should be responsive to the needs of the community. This has been achieved through the establishment of a reference group and the active pursuit of partnering opportunities with the community. The school when finished will cater for a range of adult education, sporting, cultural and recreational needs. Shared and community facilities are a feature of the school.

The second theme is that the school should have a defined and observable futures orientation. This is manifested through
·the integration of technology to individualise education delivery
·the nurturing a love of and capability for life long learning
·the deliberate development of the multiple intelligences, personality, confidence and active citizenship of every student.

The brief development and design process involved ·visits to two other states to study education models developed by other authorities.
·Extensive research of literature.
·Design workshops involving all stakeholders
·The testing of the design against the Education Brief to ensure the educational vision has driven the site and facility design,
·Testing of the design against the class room experience of practicing teachers to ensure the ideas incorporated into the design are practical & workable.

Design Features that Enhance Learning

The school’s master plan that was developed as a result of this consultative process includes a;
·Community precinct
·Sporting precinct
·Junior School precinct (Grades P — 5) approx 800 students
·Middle School precinct (Grades 6 - 9) approx 800 students
·Senior School precinct (Grades 10 - 12) approx 800 studentsT

he original primary school has become the Junior School and the second stage of the development, completed in 2001, comprises the middle school.

The third stage, which is about to commence construction (June 2002), will be ready for the commencement of the 2003 school year and will provide the specialist learning areas for the senior school. This will be followed by stage 4 in 2004 with the remaining general learning areas for the senior school.

The creation of the Middle School was in response to the realisation that neither the existing primary school nor the secondary school methodologies adequately addressed the needs of early adolescence.

This submission focuses on the middle school precinct that has been developed along the principle of Home Group Learning Centres.

The general arrangement of the precinct has been aimed at establishing the Middle School as a clearly identifiable element within the school. The buildings have their own character and are arranged to create a zone that encourages “ownership” of the area by the occupants. This is achieved by clustering the Middle School buildings around a Mall area. This Mall provides a communal circulation space exclusive to the Middle School, where students can move between classes, undertake out door activities and socialise. The buildings that run along each side of the Mall contain the various learning centres of the Middle School. These learning centres have been formed as small scale organisational structures (PODs) of 5 teachers and up to 120 students.

Features of these centres that enhance learning include;
·120 students with multi-age grouping of students within each POD. Each student has a home class where they interact with a small team of teachers
·5 teachers who plan & teach together to cover all core areas of the curriculum through an integrated program. The teachers are based in the POD which includes a staff room, interview room
4 learning spaces with a high level of interconnectivity between spaces to allow interaction between groups & spaces,1 small learning space for use in counseling and working with small groups.
· Provision of learning spaces linked by a forum space to permit interaction and showcasing of student performances, displays and productions as well as serving as a POD team building area.
· A high level of visual connection between the forum space and learning spaces to encourage active monitoring and interconnectivity.
· Provision of an intranet system to allow flexible rates of learning and off campus learning in cases of travel, sickness or suspension.

In addition to the Home Group Learning Centres the Middle School also provides dedicated specialist learning spaces which the students visit in POD groupings. These specialist learning areas are arranged on the opposite side of the Mall space.

Flexible design was the key to the planning, to accommodate changing teaching pedagogies, changing dynamics of student group configurations and place less emphasis on teacher directed learning within four walls and greater emphasis on student led learning as individuals and in small groups.

Community access facilities are interwoven with the senior school to assist in blurring the boundaries between school life and the wider community — this is done to foster the culture of education as a lifelong pursuit.