On Thursday 13th October we welcomed colleagues from Southwark Council to present on the latest updates regarding Phase 2 of our site development.  Please see a summary from Southwark below and useful information.  As the end-user of this important build for our students, the school are pleased to see new movement and plans for the year ahead.  We continue to work in collaboration with Southwark and the DFE, who both fund the project, to ensure our students and community will receive the excellent learning environment they deserve. We would like to thank all those involved in the project during a difficult season, and all those families that joined us for the meeting and are keen to support over the next steps ahead. 

 

TCSED Operational Update as of October 2022

As you would expect the delay in the Phase II build has resulted in a range of challenges for staff and students on a day-to-day basis as the school grows in student numbers.  To ensure that we provide a strong environment for learning whilst the next stages of the build are occurring the school has put in place the following operational strategies since September 2022:

• Additional creation of 5 classrooms, student meeting rooms and sixth form study areas within the current site
• Additional library spaces within the current building
• Reallocation of office space to provide increased learning spaces for students.
• Implementation of an additional foodcube near Jarvis Road entrance
• Opening of all food areas both in break and lunchtimes (2 food cubes, main dining hall and Sixth Form Cafe)
• Additional picnic benches around the open outdoor areas
• Opening of the MUGA area at both break and lunchtimes
• Opening of the Sports Hall and Activity studios at both break and lunchtimes
• Additional staff on duty at all break and lunchtimes
• Quiet rooms and additional spaces for students with SEND
• Staffed lunch clubs provided for more focused, supported activity
• Off site sports field sourced for PE timetable

We are continually reviewing the available spaces for our students and would welcome ideas and support from parents and carers on areas we can improve further.

 

 

Unfortunately the planned Phase Two of the Charter School East Dulwich building work has been delayed due to a number of factors. Foremost amongst these has been the pandemic; the use of the previous hospital buildings as a testing/vaccination centre and the subsequent delay in relocating NHS staff to new premises. Add to this the impact of Brexit and national supply chain and construction market difficulties, plus inflation (including labour and materials), and it is not surprising to find that the price of the project contract has increased.

 

Negotiations were held with the contractor, over the course of a year but, due to challenging market forces, they were unable to hold their prices from their sub-contractors and sign-up to the contract required to complete the work. This means a retender is now needed.  In total, an extra £3m is estimated as necessary to complete the project. Southwark Council will meet £500k of these costs with the Department for Education seeking to fund the remainder. Southwark Council remains committed to helping The Charter School East Dulwich complete this project and will help with interim arrangements until the work is finished.

 

Phase Two is now scheduled to complete in August 2024 and will comprise a new school hall, a drama suite, libraries, administrative block, music classrooms and a purpose-built, special provision for students with autism.  In the meantime, temporary classrooms will be provided (alongside landscaping work to make more outdoor space available) to enable the school to meet the needs of the next intake of students in September 2023 and to provide interim provision for pupils with autism. Procurement has already begun for the temporary accommodation and landscaping works and the school is working with both the council and the DfE, constructively, to complete this project as soon as possible.