This online conference will look at the future of school buildings in England.

It will be an opportunity for stakeholders and policymakers to examine progress and next steps for the Government’s 10-year School Rebuilding Programme - as well as wider issues relating to the schools estate, including aligning school buildings with net-zero ambitions, and adaptation and design.

It comes with the Programme now in its second phase, with the Government publishing its response to the Prioritising schools for the School Rebuilding Programme consultation, which outlines the way forward for funding choices in future phases of the programme.

Areas for discussion emerging from the consultation will include:
• engagement - how to ensure the scheme is transparent, and the effectiveness of communication with schools
• priorities - assessing the focus on schools in greatest need of funding
• progress - implementation so far, and what can be learnt from the initial phases
• schools outside the programme - options for schools that are not part of the programme to access funding to improve their facilities.

Those attending will also look at decarbonising the schools estate, and priorities and challenges stemming from findings that schools in England are currently contributing a quarter of public sector carbon emissions in the country.

Discussion is expected on the way forward for tackling issues identified in the Energy System Catapult’s exploratory study into the School Decarbonisation Challenge last year around the costs of retrofitting versus newbuild to meet low carbon standards, addressing deficiencies in current policy and energy standards, and the overall approach to the role of the schools estate in contributing to ambitions to reduce carbon emissions.

Further sessions discuss wider issues for the adaptation and design of school buildings, will include:
• inclusivity - improvement of facilities in existing school buildings and in new building design to ensure access for all students
• educational technology - next steps for virtual learning facilities in the context of the pandemic, best practice and what can be learned from schemes such as the EdTech Demonstrator Programme
• design and construction - assessing developments and latest thinking on how space can be maximised in building design, and the use of modular school buildings to minimise disruption.

Keynote sessions will be included with:
• Lara Newman, Chief Executive, LocatED
• Jane Balderstone, Programme Director, School Rebuilding, Department for Education
• Rory Kennedy, Director, Capital, Department for Education.

The conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who are due to attend from the Department for Education.