British Council for School Environments' Industry Awards

The BCSE Industry Awards Dinner, held on Wednesday 24th June 2009 at The Emirates Stadium in London, was a glittering evening of celebration for industry professionals recognising the UK's world class school design and construction industry. The dinner was a dazzling conclusion to National School Environments Week, a week of celebrating great schools.

"This year the quality of submissions was extremely high with 170 entries across the 13 categories. The judges chose 20 projects, individuals and teams as winners across the categories, which were announced at the BCSE Industry Awards Dinner. Dulux Trade sponsored the 'Best School Extension, Refurbishment or Remodel - The Big School Makeover Award', which was won by 2 schools: Coleridge Primary School and Elm Court School Court School.

Dulux Trade knows how important it is to provide young people with a stimulating environment in which to learn, and that is why, together with Wilmot Dixon, it is supporting the British Council for School Environments' (BCSE) Big School Makeover.

The Big School Makeover initiative is a nationwide project launched to encourage teachers, parents and young people to get involved in refreshing or refurbishing key areas of their school.

The project kicked off in September 2009 and has so far seen five schools across the UK benefit from a free makeover. As part of this, Dulux Trade and Wilmot Dixon worked with the BCSE, regional architectural firms, pupils and staff on design plans and implementation in a selection of spaces within these five schools. From classrooms to cloakrooms, the makeovers saw the transformation of a wide range of learning and social areas, and - as well as redecoration - included a revamp of the electrics, flooring and furnishings to create the completed looks.

Schools' Minister Vernon Coaker took time out from the Labour Party Conference and had some positive things to say about the work and the importance of smaller projects like this. When discussing the huge government investment in school buildings he commented: "We need to ensure that alongside the huge sum of money, we look at the small things that can be done to improve the learning environment as well. Young people of this country, the teachers of this country, the communities of this country deserve good school buildings."