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The schools minister with the academy’s first students |
Exam results will shoot up at new academy, says schools secretary
Balls hails break with ‘poverty of aspiration’ and urges first pupils to seize opportunities
EDUCATION secretary Ed Balls urged pupils to “take advantage of a massive opportunity” when he dropped into Islington’s latest city academy on Wednesday.
Mr Balls spoke to around 100 City of London Academy pupils, smartly dressed in their new burgundy uniform, at the Year 7 assembly.
The “business and enterprise” academy, sponsored by City University and the Corporation of London, replaces Islington Green School, which closed in the summer amid protests that saw the departure of experienced teachers.
The university is setting aside places for students from the new Prebend Street academy, which opened on Monday.
Referring to rebuilding work at the academy, Mr Balls told pupils: “You guys are in an unusual position. You are starting at a school where massive changes are taking place. There is a building site out there that will eventually become your new school. It will have the best technology, computers, sports facilities.
“With investment, we are making sure you get the best chance to do well. It is up to you to take advantage of this massive opportunity through hard work.”
But pupils were less impressed with the facilities, especially for sport.
When Mr Balls asked students what they would like to see at their new school their suggestions included an escalator, swimming pool, ice rink and even a roller-coaster. Among the more practical suggestions were a bigger playground and a football pitch.
Mr Balls, who made repeated references to football with the kids, looked far from happy on discovering there was no football pitch at the school. “We need to sort out some football pitches, don’t we?” he told the new principal, Ann Palmer.
With building work continuing for another two years, the school’s 845 pupils will have only a basketball court for a playground until 2011.
A new fitness suite is due to be finished by April 2010 and two tennis courts and two multi-purpose courts by the summer of 2011.
In the meantime, the school has arranged to ferry pupils to a gym for swimming and sports.
Mr Balls learned during his tour of classrooms that discipline had been tightened with the changeover to an academy. Pupil Sophie Dobbins, 14, told him: “It is much stricter than it was last year and I think that is a good thing. It makes us more mature and will help with our exams.”
Lib Dem education chief Councillor Ursula Woolley welcomed the comments: “That was a really important thing for me to hear. In the past, it has been a bit taboo to talk about good behaviour. For pupils today that has changed. It was a real end-of-an-era moment for me.”
City of London Academy is being bankrolled by education charity Medicor, based in the tax-haven of Liechtenstein. The charity has said it is not interested in running the school in any way and that its donation of £1 million towards start-up costs was purely “philanthropic”.
After the tour, Mr Balls told the Tribune he would like to see every school in Islington partnered with an university.
He added: “It is about ending the poverty of aspiration. Bringing in City University will help the pupils in this school and other schools in the area. Different schools have different expertise.
“The academies can help us raise standards. That old idea that certain boroughs, certain schools couldn’t do well – we are breaking that poverty of aspiration. I am confident that the next two, three or five years will see results shooting up.” |
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