Roadshow offers glimpse of JCB's engineering academy

TEENAGERS and their parents are being invited to a recruitment roadshow to find out more about Staffordshire's first academy school.

More than £24 million is being spent on creating the JCB Academy, which will be based in the converted Grade II-listed Tutbury Mill, in Rocester, and will be sponsored by the digger firm.

It will open its doors in September 2010 and will eventually cater for 14 to 19-year-olds from across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Derbyshire. There will be 120 places for year 10 pupils in its first intake.

The academy is to become the first in the region to offer a five-term school year and young people will also follow a longer school day, lasting from 8.30am to 5pm, so they can mirror working life.

Now families are being invited to several launch events to find out more about how it will operate. The first session takes place tomorrow.

Academy principal Jim Wade said there has already been significant interest, with 60 to 90 hits a day on the school's website and a steady stream of inquiries from parents.

He stressed the curriculum would not suit everyone, but would be geared up to training the engineers, designers and business leaders of the future.

Every 14 to 16-year-old pupil will take diplomas in engineering and business, alongside GCSEs in English, maths, science, ICT and modern foreign languages.

Many of these subjects will be taught through engineering challenges, so young people can apply their knowledge to real-life work situations.

Big name companies such as JCB, Rolls-Royce, and Toyota will be involved in developing the tasks.

Post-16 students will also take specialist diplomas, which they can study alongside A-levels.

Mr Wade, pictured below, said: "Engineering is at the heart of the work young people are going to do. It is going to be a very non-traditional model. For some youngsters, this will be a curriculum that really excites them."

The school's facilities are set to include computer-aided design software, workshops and laboratories. Lessons will be delivered by teachers and industry experts, with work experience built into the school year.

Each pupil will be given a laptop and much of their curriculum and assignments will be completed online. They will also be assigned a personal mentor, who will meet with them each week to discuss their progress.

As a state-funded school, the JCB Academy won't be able to select pre-16 students on ability.

Instead, a set number of places will be available to young people living in different geographical areas, all within a 45-minute travel distance. Free school buses will be laid on.

Forty places in year 10 will be open to teenagers from Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle or the Moorlands, 20 places for young people who live in Stafford, Stone or other parts of Mid Staffordshire, and 47 places for youngsters from East Staffordshire or Derby.

Staffordshire County Council is co-ordinating the admissions and people will be able to apply from September.

The academy plans have so far received a mixed response, with some schools raising concerns it will cream off their pupils.

But there has been backing from industry and education authorities.

Peter Traves, Staffordshire's director of children and lifelong learning, will be one of the academy's governors.

Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of the JCB Group, said: "I am passionate about the importance of manufacturing to Britain and the JCB Academy shows we are prepared to invest in creating the next generation of young engineers."

The school's funding agreement reveals central Government is stumping up £23 million of the capital costs and JCB, which owns Tutbury Mill, is also contributing £1.75 million.