St Alban's Academy in Birmingham takes a big step forward
Sep 15 2009 by Diane Parkes, Birmingham Mail
“This is a very turbulent area with a good many new arrivals,” says David. “It is the most deprived area in Birmingham and one of the ten most deprived wards in the UK. But it is also very aspirational.”
And it is those aspirations which David and his team are tapping into.
“It can take years for some of our pupils to learn English to a level where they could pass an English language GCSE but by making literacy a priority we are aiming to help them achieve that,” he said.
“Until now we have not had the confidence to stretch ourselves to a longer day or to bring in some of the changes, or to set ourselves really ambitious targets. But we now have the confidence and resources to aim for 80 per cent of our pupils achieving five A*-C grade GCSEs, including English and maths, within five years.”
St Alban’s Academy opens with specialisms in maths and engineering and with ties to organisations including Aston University, Birmingham Metropolitan College, BMW, Arup and Cadbury. These links enable pupils to gain experience of life in the workplace and opportunities for apprenticeships.
And that is only the beginning. With academy status, St Alban’s received an initial cash injection from ARK of £1.5 million but the school also received a commitment to a new £22 million building adjacent to the current site with an additional sixth form due to open in 2012.
But the introduction of academies has not been without its detractors.
St Alban’s, Shenley and Heartlands all opened as academies this September with a further three Birmingham schools, The College High, Sheldon Heath and Harborne Hill, also going for academy status in the future.
Each academy is linked to a sponsor – in St Alban’s case ARK, Absolute Return for Kids, an international charity aimed at supporting children. But in many cases those sponsors are private companies which has led to concerns that the Government-promoted academies project is simply privatisation by another name.
David dismisses this because, as a Church of England voluntary aided school, St Alban’s has a different background.
“In our case it is a nonsense as all of our previous partners are still involved,” he says. “The only difference is that we have a new partner.
“We are not taking anything away, we are adding to it.
“There was some leafletting going on around here saying ‘SOS, Save Our Schools’ but it was a specious argument as nothing was being given away. I think that argument is very political and it does not find support among our staff or parents.”
Pressed, David admits that one teacher left over the issue and a couple of others have expressed concerns over the increasing demand on staff from longer days but he says not one family has pulled their child out of St Alban’s because of it becoming an academy.
“Why would they?” he asks. “All that we are doing is for the benefit of the children.”
And chair of governors Peter Marsh says the school sees only benefits in the academy model.
“This was not foisted upon us, we actively sought it,” he says. “ARK is focused on meeting the same particular needs that we are.
“They are a very active sponsor who, like us, are very focused on maths and English. They understand the issues that are particular to an inner city school in an area of deprivation.
“When you think that five years ago our very existence was in question, becoming an academy gives us a permanence in the heart of this community.”
