Supporting The New Corby Academy
Artist's impression of The Academy Corby. More than a thousand pupils aged 11-16 and 250 sixth-formers will be taught in this iconic setting, designed by world-renowned architects, Norman Foster & Partners. The new Academy will specialise in business and enterprise.
In addition to the normal academic and broader educational work of the College, progress has been made on an important strategic venture; the development of Corby Academy. The funding agreement for the new Academy was signed in spring 2006. This confirmed the support of the sponsors and the DfES, committing everyone to continue with the project and to providing the funding needed to proceed with the building work.
The design for the new Academy is now complete and building work is planned to begin at the start of 2007, with initial opening expected in September 2008. Brooke Weston will continue to be responsible for overseeing the project to completion and in particular will play a key role in establishing a culture of high expectations among the students and workforce of the new Academy.
The Governors fully acknowledge the enthusiasm and commitment of Peter Simpson and his management team in working towards establishing Corby Academy and this builds on Brooke Weston's role in improving the state-funded education service for the town.
Innovation And The Future
Innovation has always been a feature of life at Brooke Weston. We were established to do things differently and we continue to look for unorthodox and better ways of doing things. Innovation takes many forms and cuts across all areas of our practice. The recent introduction of a two year Key Stage 3 curriculum has been our most dramatic change in recent times. Praised by the inspectors, this change to the way we work has opened the door for more radical curriculum innovation in the remainder of the school.
A number of new ideas are under consideration, for example, the introduction of undergraduate taster courses from the Open University and the partnership with the University of Northampton, both of which have proved popular and successful in extending opportunity in the Sixth Form. It is anticipated that in due course a whole year of undergraduate study will be possible for students at Brooke Weston, reducing the time and cost of further advanced study. Our languages department has secured the services of Mr Wang to offer taster courses to some students in Mandarin Chinese and we would expect this early work to provide the foundation for greater links with schools in China with the possibility that within the next few years we would be offering examination courses in the subject.
The effective application of IT to learning has always been one of our strengths. Innovation has included wireless networking and the increasing use of laptop computers. The College's IT system continues to develop and the next few years will see the further development of an on-line curriculum and the greater use of digital video technology.
The College is also taking the lead in innovative management structures. The creation of a CEO to oversee the work of the Principals of Brooke Weston and Corby Academy is a model that is likely, if successful, to be replicated elsewhere.
If we are not innovating, we are going backwards and Brooke Weston has no intention of falling behind!
