Where will I do my pineapples? : The Little Book of Building a Whole New School

Imagine the scenario where a newly appointed Deputy Headteacher in charge of Curriculum is suddenly asked questions like How many RJ45 sockets would you like in your new classroom? What type of cabling would you like? Cat 4 or 5? Add this to the relentless drive to raise standards as well as organising the timetable, teaching, doing break duty and offering a friendly ear to staff... you get the picture. Written with the perspective of a senior leader, with many amusing and bizarre stories, this book describes how to keep sound educational principles at the heart of a Building Schools for the Future project. This book is not about the new building, it is about building a whole new school and the struggle, against all odds, to keep people and learning at the centre of the whole project. What came out of the process was a school that had a variety of learning spaces, fully trained staff, modern ICT and a bespoke year 7 transition curriculum. It was the only school building in the country to be delivered on time, within budget, with a ground breaking CPD programme. This is not to say that everything went smoothly. There was a lot of pain along the way, and many lessons learned about how to manage change. Perhaps more significantly, Where will I do my pineapples?' is about people and the potential to change thousands of lives.