Lessons in creating top class schools

Some wondered whether the new schools - to be run not by Sheffield Council but by Christian charity The United Learning Trust - would still be accountable to their local communities.

Others questioned whether it was right that their children should be put at the centre of an untried educational experiment said to be close to the heart of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But nobody disagreed with the proposal that youngsters in these inner city suburbs deserved the best education possible - to be delivered in the best possible new buildings.

The Academy plans eventually went ahead with most mums and dads excited by the prospect of first class, state-of-the-art schools transforming their children's future prospects.

Now, two years on from those first consultations, that promise is close to being fulfilled.

Almost 60 million is being spent on the new school buildings which have been rising up on sites next to their predecessors.

Pupils at Sheffield Springs Academy off Hurlfield Road will move into their new surroundings over next year's February half term, while students at Sheffield Park will have to wait a little longer, until after Easter.

But the signs are that among all the new school developments to have emerged across the city over the past few years, the Academies will be among the most impressive.

Springs' sharp angular design is immediately distinctive, built in a triangle around a central courtyard that will contain a circular amphitheatre for performances of music and drama.

As many as 150 workers are busy on the project, which began in February last year and which has been delivered on time by contractor Bowmer and Kirkland despite the heavy summer rains - which may however delay the development of outdoor sports pitches.

Other innovative features in both new schools include cyber-cafes, industry-standard recording studios with 40 track consoles, and huge 40 metre-long sports halls built to Sport England specifications.

Sports facilities will also be opened for use by the local communities.

"Springs is a specialist in performing arts and I'd love to see The Royal Shakespeare Company and Opera North appearing in the outdoor amphitheatre," said principal David Lewis.

"It could happen - after all the RSC play in Yorkshire every year at Castleford High School," he said.

There will be indoor entertainment at Springs too - the main hall can also serve as a theatre with a large stage, a sound system with mixing desk and retractable seating.

Three dance and drama studios are being built, one ideal for teaching ballet.

The classrooms upstairs feature large windows, many featuring views across what will be sports fields to the city centre and the Derbyshire moors beyond.

"The emphasis has been on maximising natural light wherever possible," said project manager Keith Hogger, whose company has built academies for ULT in other authorities like Manchester, Stockport, Barnsley and Walsall.

With 13 academies now under its wing, ULT has become the biggest sponsor in the country.