New Page 1

Academy Belongs to Us All

The most important reason for welcoming the decision to build the new North Cumbria Academy in Egremont on the Wyndham site is that it will allow more than a third of its pupils to walk safely and healthily to school along pavements. This should not be seen as a triumph for one community over another. The Academy belongs to all the families it serves and a crucial test for its success is how many of its students from Cleator Moor fulfil their potential and make it to university, colleges of technology or high quality apprenticeships. It should regenerate the whole community from Eskdale to Mockerkin by opening the eyes of its young people to new opportunities.
Every month we welcome new readers in Cleator and Cleator Moor and their interests are as important to us those in Egremont or Seascale. David Southward calls upon the communities the academy serves to pledge their unstinting support, and that is the message from Egremont Today.

Academy to be Built on Wyndham Site

From County Councillor David Southward

The new Ł30M North Copeland Academy will be built on the playing fields of Wyndham School in Egremont. One in three of the academy’s pupils will be able to walk safely to school without crossing a busy road, though the reason for the decision is that County Council officers have been unable to agree terms to purchase the Kangol site in Cleator. So ends months of speculation about where the prestigious new academy would be located. The site selection process was long, deliberate, well informed and subject to the full rigour and foibles of the democratic process. Now that the decision has been made I earnestly hope the twin communities of Cleator Moor and Egremont unite behind the project which without doubt heralds transformational change for the educational opportunity of all our young people.
The decision that our academy would open its doors in the present Wyndham buildings on 1 September 2008 reduced the preparation and planning period for the academy from 22 to 10 months and impacts particularly on the staff of Ehenside and Wyndham Schools, who, under the leadership of Executive Head Teacher, Janet Simpson, now have only two terms in which to prepare for the launch of the academy. Pressure also falls on the sponsor – that illustrious trinity of Sellafield, NDA and UCLan. Very soon the sponsor will embark on the recruitment of the principal and begin to establish a shadow board of trustees. For its part DCFS has appointed Place Group Ltd to project manage the academy and Place has made clear its intention to collaborate closely with the sponsor, community leaders, and the schools. Early in 2008 the sponsor and project manager will undertake statutory public consultation to ascertain people’s views on such attributes of the academy as its specialisms, the curriculum and styles of teaching and learning. The design of the new building should be completed by summer 2009 and be ready for occupation by autumn 2011.
The North Copeland Academy has the potential to create a state of the art, transformational learning environment for the young people of this area. I wish the sponsor and the project manager every good fortune in their endeavours and I call upon the communities the academy will serve to pledge their unstinting support.

previous home next