Academy Opens Its Doors To New Building

7 September 2010, 05:00

Hundreds of children will be going to some of the new Academy schools for the first time today.

Many of them are sponsored by businesses, councils and charities, whilst some, like Hartismere School in Eye, Suffolk, are high achieving schools that could apply to become an academy and have more say in how they are run.

The Open Academy in Norwich was one of the first academies in the country and children there will see inside the brand new building for the first time today.

Vice Principal Cameron Phillips told Heart, "The Open Academy was perhaps controversial when it was first set up and muted around the city three years ago, but I think the proof is that the number of people who want to come here has gone up, the results have doubled in two years, so an astonishing success there and the attendance rate has gone up dramatically."

He added, "It really is a glimpse into the future of education with a brand new purpose built sports hall and the ICT facilities are a tremendous investment in that the whole building is wireless, every student receives a laptop and all of our curriculum has been put onto a learning platform so that students can learn interactively."