Full project details
Restoring pride in the Newham community - enriching education throughout the Borough.
Laing O'Rourke were proud to be appointed main contractor for the delivery of the first 8 schools in a major re-development of eduction in East London. Vital to the success of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) throughout the Newham community has been the creation of a Local Educational Partnership (LEP) which was set up as a joint venture company to unite the London Borough of Newham, Partnerships for Schools (PfS, a government body) and the Newham Learning Partnership (led by Laing O’Rourke).
Crystallising Newham's commitment to learning
Remodelling and rebuilding schools in Newham has provided an opportunity to rethink how education is delivered and how the right facilities, environments and opportunities can allow secondary school pupils to reach their full potential. Studies have shown that new and innovative building and classroom design can transform the effectiveness and experience of learners, teachers and the wider community. Through our contribution, we have realised just how deep the impact of each project can be, as we watched the heart of each community grow as construction progressed.
Supporting and growing our young construction minds
We have been instrumental in achieving formal accreditation by the National Skills Academy for Construction. With particular focus on positive interaction, the Academy encourages students and apprentices to engage with the construction industry. Through career talks, enterprise events and site tours for local students and teachers, we highlighted the opportunities available in construction, and promoted our industry as a desirable career path – particularly encouraging hard-to-reach groups.
A gold star for contribution to community
As part of the Academy, we won the case study within the Newham region for a pilot apprenticeship scheme that we helped set up with the National Construction College; two workplace candidates were placed with MPG – a UK market-leading provider of internal fit-out and external construction solutions. We were also awarded runner-up prize for the National Work Experience Award – Large Category, from the Institute for Education Business Excellence (IEBE).
Throughout our time working with Newham, we achieved an outstanding number of placements:
Creating a diverse, inclusive supply chain
We held ‘meet the buyer’ events to engage with local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and built relationships that complemented our long-term plans for regeneration throughout Newham. This initiative offers an invaluable forum where a wide range of companies can investigate the opportunity to work with us. Our personal approach kick-started engagement and helped 26 local companies join our supply chain.