Babcock (Babcock) is delighted to announce that its Education business has won the prestigious Best use of ICT to create a learning community category in the British Council for Schools Environments (BCSE) Industry Awards. The Awards celebrate the best practice in the design and construction of schools across the UK, with 170 entries vying for top slot across the 13 categories.

Babcock’s bespoke innovative ICT solution for Forest Hill School, Lewisham, was recognised by BCSE at its annual awards ceremony held at the Emirates Stadium in London last night. The judges felt it to be ‘a very good example of how effective ICT services can be embedded in a new school to build ownership and enhance the curriculum and the learning experience for students and staff.’

Ty Goddard, Chief Executive of the BCSE, said: ”The quality of entries led to intense debate amongst the judges, which is how it should be. Forest Hill School shows that with the right resources and approach, ICT can be used to create a stimulating and innovative learning environment. Our thanks go to all for being willing to invest their time and energy in a project which ensures pupils and teachers have such an inspirational centre in which to learn, play and teach.”

Forest Hill School is one of the first Building Schools for the Future (BSF) secondary schools, within the London Borough of Lewisham, to benefit from a cutting edge ICT solution. This ensured a full ICT Managed Service and innovative technology to underpin the aspirations of Forest Hill’s teachers and 1500 students, utilising the full educational and ICT expertise within Babcock’s education business.

Babcock’s subject-specific educational consultants worked with Forest Hill’s teaching staff to progress training from extensive interactive whiteboard sessions to focusing on developing ICT resources across the curriculum. The school is now at a stage where it has requested consultancy in delivering cross-curricular projects with teachers that will address pedagogical change and enhance collaboration between curriculum areas.

This project has been recognised by Cisco for the innovative large scale wireless technology implementation and is one of Cisco’s key education reference sites in Europe. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) also selected Forest Hill as one of the top three schools in the country for the best BSF ICT deployment.

Says Dr Marcus Watson, Babcock’s Managing Director, Education: “This award is clear recognition of the successful partnering between Babcock, Forest Hill School, and the London Borough of Lewisham. Together, we have implemented a creative use of ICT throughout the school. Understanding the relationship between technology and education and the effects that this has on the life chances for children and young people is at the heart of our work in Lewisham and I'm delighted that Forest Hill has been recognised as centre stage.”