Readers of Egremont Today and other local newspapers cannot fail to be aware of the current review of secondary education in North Copeland and the exciting prospect of a new £30M academy to replace Ehenside and Wyndham Schools. The initial round of soundings is now complete and subject to ratification by the cabinet of the County Council the three options will go out to extensive public consultation in the autumn term. That will be your chance to say what you think about the proposals and in particular the academy
So what is an academy and why should we want one? The government describes an academy as a new type of school that brings a distinctive approach to school leadership by drawing on the skills of sponsors and other supporters. It gives the principal and staff new opportunities to develop educational strategies, to raise standards and contribute to diversity in areas of disadvantage. That sounds good although academies have their detractors too. You may have read about academies whose sponsor espouses eccentric fundamentalist beliefs - the City Technology College, Gateshead; the King’ Academy, Middlesborough and Trinity Academy, Doncaster. But these are only three of the 27 academies already open and over 40 others are being developed. In the northwest region alone there are five academies already bringing new educational opportunity to areas with a history of under-attainment. Read about the performance of academies on the government’s website http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/academies/ and judge for yourself.
When you take part in the public consultation as I hope you will, remember that an academy is the only option on offer that will provide our community with a brand new, state of the art school in the foreseeable future. Our potential sponsor has a long history of exceptional support to the area and it is most unlikely that the chosen specialisms or style of governance would give any legitimate cause for concern. In 1964 Wyndham School was in the vanguard of community comprehensive education in the UK. Now forty years on our area has the chance to play a leading role on the new educational stage, but we have to want to make it happen.