FEATURE
Making a difference – Sanderson Weatherall ’ s specialist building surveyor Sarah Foster is dedicated to helping schools in our region .
In a class of her own
We sat down with Sanderson Weatherall ’ s latest Teesside appointment , Sarah Foster , to learn more about school buildings in the North-East and why the property firm has recruited a specialist building surveyor to help support it .
1 . Tell us a bit about you and your experience If someone asked me to tell them what a building surveyor was when I left school , I ’ d not have the slightest clue . I happened upon the role by chance after leaving university while still not having a clue about where I wanted my career to lie . I subsequently self-funded a conversion degree in surveying and started my distance-learning course while juggling a couple of jobs . I was lucky to meet some surveyors at my previous firm , AtkinsRéalis , while living in Manchester and joined their graduate scheme . After graduating and progressing in my role with the then Faithful + Gould , I decided to relocate back to the North-East to start a family . My husband is from Middlesbrough , and I was born in Newcastle , so we always had the wish to start a family in the region . I transferred offices within Faithful + Gould and continued my work in education but began a specialism in supporting schools . I became the national expert for the Education and Skills Funding Agency ’ s academy trust Condition Improvement Fund , and the quality assurance lead for national technical assessments of Department for Education funding streams . Sanderson Weatherall approached me to consider a new role with them to develop their education services , and I decided to take this opportunity .
2 . Why did you choose to specialise in the education sector ? I have a passion for the education sector with my previous background as a fulltime tutor , my role as a school governor and family working in education . Staff are doing what they can to support young people ’ s learning to help better the world and if I can support them in doing so , what bigger difference could I make ? Often staff responsible for estates management , for example , headteachers , are only trained in teaching , not any sort of building expertise . I love to support them with that reliable expert but advocate role to minimise the stress that estates management often brings .
3 . What have been your career highlights so far working in the North-East region ? Being , arguably , all my school clients ’ go-to person , in that when they ’ ve got an issue , I ’ m who they call . That ’ s a testament to the working relationship we ’ ve managed to build together . They know that if I can help , I will .
4 . What challenges does the education sector face in terms of the buildings they occupy ? The education sector has some of the consistently oldest assets , and often still does not have a qualified person ( s ) to manage them . This had led to a wider estate of buildings that can no longer be managed with the budgets available . All associated construction works have to be reactive . I often see schools having to choose between students sitting in coats or next to a bucket . These are extremely tough decisions headteachers are having to make annually . Then we add in the ever-growing pressure to consider the sustainability of these inherently leaky buildings .
5 . What changes do you hope to see in school buildings over the next 10 years ? Better estates management and awareness , either through support via consultants like me or in-house experts employed to do the role , supported by adequate funding driven by greater efficiencies .
6 . What does the perfect school building look like to you ? As much as I love the character of some older school buildings , often they are too difficult to manage without compromising on health and safety or teaching and learning potential . If we really are going to fix the wider issues in the most efficient way , it ’ s likely the perfect schools are the ones that have had a proper full-scale “ reset ” to bring them back to manageable conditions . Ultimately , the perfect scenario is where the estate isn ’ t impeding the teaching and learning so we can get the best out of future generations . If we invest in them , they ’ ll invest in the world for us .
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