The proposed All Saints Churchof England Academy, Plymouth

It is time for positive change at John KittoCommunity College and, as Sponsors, we areproud to be involved in this exciting journey.

As an Academy, we will settle for nothing less thanfirst-class education for our students. The proposedAcademy will place the needs, talents and potentialof its students at the heart of everything it does -raising attainment levels, increasing opportunities forfurther and higher education, and offering everystudent a rewarding future long after their schooldays are over.

Its October 2009 Ofsted inspection, John KittoCommunity College received an overall grade of‘satisfactory’. It is our aim that the next inspection(due around 2012) should result in the newAcademy being awarded an overall gradeof at least ‘good’.

At the inspection after that we hope to be deemed an‘outstanding’ Academy.

It’s a big task but we are not starting from scratch;the John Kitto Community College has manystrengths for us to build upon. For example, thecollege’s broad and balanced curriculum receivedparticular praise in the last inspection. As did its

specialism in business and enterprise. Soon, newbuildings and learning styles, designed for a21st century education, will be helping the Academyto meet and exceed our high targets.

As part of the consultation process, we are keen tohear your views on the proposals outlined in thisdocument - and your thoughts on making ourvision a reality.

We look forward to your comments.

Diocese of Exeter

University College Plymouth

St Mark & St John (UCP Marjon)

Plymouth City Council

Foreword fromthe Sponsors

We’ve put together this consultation document togive you an overview of the plans for your college’stransformation into a Church of England Academy.

The new Academy will educate 900 students aged11-16 and 250 students aged 16-19. It will open inthe existing buildings in September 2010, movinginto a combination of new and remodelledaccommodation in September 2013.

This project will bring a transformation to a collegewhich serves a wide community. Creating a high-quality Academy on the John Kitto site in the westof Plymouth is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity toraise educational standards, reverse the eastwarddrift in school intake, and tackle social deprivation.

Our aim is for the Academy to provide a first-classeducation for all our students, thereby:

• increasing opportunities

• raising aspirations

• improving attainment

• enabling each student to achieve theirfull potential

• strengthening the local community

• contributing to the overall transformationof Plymouth.

We welcome your views on our proposedplans. You can find contact details and a pre-paidresponse form at the back of this document.

Introduction

“We like workingtogether to help eachother to succeed”Year 7 students

What is anAcademy?

Thepartnership

Academies are a new form of inclusive secondaryschool designed to meet the needs of students inthe 21st century. They are independent of theirlocal authority but publicly funded and monitoredby the Department for Children, Schools andFamilies and Ofsted.

The Academies programme is a major componentof the Government’s education reform agenda,which encourages Sponsors from private, public andnot-for-profit sectors to establish all-ability schools.

Each Academy has a board of governors withlocal stakeholder representation, including thelocal authority.

As main sponsor to the Academy, the Church ofEngland will provide high-quality education to everychild in the local community, welcoming students ofall faiths and of none.

The proposed Academy’s lead sponsor is theChurch of England Diocese of Exeter, with UCPMarjon and Plymouth City Council as co-sponsors.All bring strong commitment, experience andexpertise to the project.

The Diocese of Exeter brings:

• professional support from a team which coverschildren’s and youth work in every parish in Devon

• a track record of, and a commitment to, excellencein education

• a supportive local community through the parishesin Plymouth

• access to support from the Church nationally,through the growing network of Church of EnglandAcademies and through the work of the Church ofEngland Academy Services Ltd.

The proposed Academy will be an inspirational placeof learning which makes a positive contribution to itscommunity and the wider world.

As well as striving for academic success, we aim forour students to grow into citizens who value theirpeers and seek to contribute to the common good.Through their education at the Academy, we expectstudents to:

The vision

• develop self-esteem and confidence

• have a strong sense of right and wrong

• recognise the importance and value of each person

• have a holistic, rather than compartmentalised,view of human life, growth and destiny

• develop the knowledge, skills, understanding andvalues they need to stay safe, enjoy life, make apositive contribution to society and achieveeconomic wellbeing.

Regardless of their means and abilities, all studentswill be able to join in the full range of activitiesoffered by the Academy. Through student councils,consultation and contributions to governance, theirvoices will be heard in the day-to-day running oftheir Academy.

“We are looking forwardto having an excitingrange of activities andlearning experiences”Year 10 students

The recent improvements in teaching made by JohnKitto Community College will be continued andaccelerated in the proposed Academy, with:

• the application of the Mathematics specialismacross the whole curriculum

• excellent subject knowledge applied consistentlyto challenge and inspire students

• recruiting, retaining and rewarding high-quality staff

• mentors and high-level teaching assistants usedto raise the quality of learning in lessons

• exemplary feedback from teachers, throughimproved marking, verbal feedback andformal reports

• teachers and support staff developing flexible,innovative and creative approaches to learning

• the development of a first-rate virtual learningenvironment using ICT

• our ability to draw on the college’s existingspecialism in business and enterprise.

Raising levels of attainmentWe aim to:

• achieve standards of Key Stage 3 and KeyStage 4 attainment that are at least in line withthe national average, within three to five yearsof becoming an Academy

• be in the top 10 per cent of schools from KS2and KS4

• ensure that the majority of students make atleast three levels of progress in Mathematics andEnglish from KS2 to KS4

• bring levels of attendance in line withnational averages

• ensure that 90 per cent or more students move intofurther education, training or employment uponleaving school

• ensure that the quality of teaching is at least ‘good’in 80 per cent or more lessons

• ensure that the great majority of students engageregularly in one or more enrichment activities, suchas music, drama, sport, community service,Duke of Edinburgh or student leadership.

Admissions:how it willwork

Ways oflearning: arevolution

The proposed Academy will be an inclusive learningcentre; a place of Christian worship where othertraditions are respected too. The Academy is open toevery child in the local community, admittingstudents of all faiths and of none. It will supportchildren with special educational needs, and thosedeemed ‘hard to place’.

The Academy will be a local school serving the localcommunity. All current John Kitto students willautomatically transfer to the new Academy.

The Academy Governing Body and the Diocese arecommitted to inclusive education in a faith-basedAcademy that is welcoming to all. The admissionscriteria will ensure that students will come from thecommunity around the Academy irrespective ofability, belief, gender or ethnicity and will beencouraged to become an equal partner of thelearning community.

The Academy will value all of its community asindividuals and will be fully compliant with allrelevant educational legislation, to accommodateall those students with statements of SpecialNeeds where mainstream schooling isconsidered appropriate.

Parents and carers will use the Local AuthorityPreference Form to apply for a place.

One of the most powerful tools we have for raisingstandards and achievement is an engagingcurriculum, which offers personalised and innovativeapproaches to learning.

The current college’s 2009 Ofsted report praised the“skilful development of the curriculum” taking placehere, commending the fact that students have accessto an “impressive range of qualifications” and thattheir “personal strengths and interests are moreclosely matching what they learn”.

As an Academy, we will build on these strengths.The breadth of the current curriculum will beincreased through participation in a ‘city-widelearning campus’, giving our students access toten diploma lines.

The Academy will continue its successfulcollaboration with the Tamar Valley Consortium,which involves local businesses, 25 trainingproviders and two other secondary schools.

Literacy and numeracy driveIn recent years, many students entering the collegehave not shown the levels of literacy and numeracyexpected for their age. The proposed Academy willbe committed to improving this situation, carefullymanaging the transition from primary to secondaryschool and offering a focused interventionprogramme working with its many partners infeeder primary schools.

Extracurricular activitiesJohn Kitto Community College already offers agood range of extracurricular activities - includingmusic, drama, sport and Duke of Edinburgh -and this tradition will continue at the Academy, withevery student expected to engage in at least one clubor programme out of school hours.

Plymouth YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association)is a key partner of the Academy, sharing the samecampus and enabling the provision of a range ofactivities and core extended services for all ages.

The curriculum

The Academyspecialisms

John Kitto Community College’s current specialism isbusiness and enterprise, praised in the 2009 Ofstedreport for making “an excellent contribution tostudents’ achievement, development and enjoymentof school life”.

Focusing on this specialism gives students the chanceto develop entrepreneurial skills; get a sense of theresponsibilities of business; and prepare themselvesfor the world of work.

The proposed Academy will build on the college’sexisting good record by further extending itsrelationships with the business community.Plymouth City Council will assist by offeringwork shadowing, mentoring and work-experienceplacements. UCP Marjon will offer similar support,including placements for post-16 students studyingbusiness or finance.

The second specialism will be in Mathematics.The Academy will take innovative andexciting approaches to teaching Mathematicsacross the whole curriculum.

The Sponsors want the proposed Academy to be anasset to its community, using partnerships with localparishes and businesses to offer family learning andadult education seven days a week. This ‘learninghub’ will offer meeting rooms, office space andaccess to ICT – and is expected to make a majorcontribution to the regeneration of local communitiesin west Plymouth.

In particular, the Academy will take a leading role inthe delivery of joined-up services for children which,among other things, address the Government’sEvery Child Matters outcomes and Working Togetherlegislation to keep children safe.

The proposed Academy will have an area forworship, prayer and reflection. There will also behigh-quality facilities for physical education, sportand recreation – for use by the local community aswell as by Academy students.

The Academy aims to make a difference toPlymouth by:

• setting and attaining ambitious targets

• significantly raising standards of literacyand numeracy

• becoming the school of first choice for all in thelocal community

• being a key contributor to the family of schoolsin Plymouth

• helping students in their aspirations

• establishing students’ routes into employment andfurther or higher education

• supporting and developing community cohesionwithin and beyond the Academy.

The community“Having the experienceof meeting realchallenges will help usdevelop the skills weneed for the future”Sixth form students

The Academy will ensure that every individualchoosing the Academy will be visited in their primaryschool. Each individual will be nurtured through thetransition to the Academy. Every youngster will beacademically challenged from the outset, throughexcellent liaision with their current teacher andparents/carers.

The proposal is for the new Academy to open inexisting buildings in September 2010, with thebuilding project completed by September 2013.

The new and remodelled accommodation will beinspiring and stimulating, with spaces that can beconfigured quickly and easily to cater for groups ofdifferent sizes. There will be breakout spaces forsmall groups; conference rooms and wirelessnetwork rooms - all with electronic whiteboards.

Transitionarrangements

“Working with primaryschools and helpingyounger students tolearn will also help usto understand learning”Year 9 students

This consultation process involves creating anAcademy on the site of John Kitto CommunityCollege which offers inspiring and stimulatingfacilities fit for 21st century learning.

Your comments will help to determine the wayforward so please do not hesitate to get in touch andoffer feedback. You can do this by returning theattached response form or via the website.

More information about the proposed All SaintsChurch of England Academy, Plymouth is availableon our dedicated consultation website atwww.jkcc-academy.org

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