Simon Mares is chair of governors at Little Ilford School in Newham, which is in the early stages of a complete rebuild under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. He visits Whitefield Fishponds School in Bristol, where construction of the new school building is almost finished. Dealing with a BSF project will be on the agenda of every governing body in the country over the next 10 to 15 years, so Simon hopes to learn lessons which will be useful to all governors. He meets the chair and vice-chair of governors at Whitefield Fishponds, who discuss the volume of work and the skills that the project has required of them. The headteacher, Theresa Thorne, takes Simon round the new building and points out the features which promise to make it an inspirational workplace for pupils and staff when it opens at Easter 2008. Simon is particularly interested in the ICT provision and the sustainability features, both of which are expected to be central to every BSF project.

Video Series: Just for Governors
Release Date 2007