25 October 2005
To mark the launch of the latest White Paper on education, we have commissioned an exclusive film which throws the spotlight on the success of the City Academy Bristol.
Led by its inspirational Principal Ray Priest, the academy is one of several around the country which are helping to turn around schools in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Britain.
Our film, and an accompanying feature, takes an intimate look at the work going on behind the modern and impressive exterior of the specialist sports academy, where GCSE results have improved markedly in the last two years.
- Watch our City Academy Bristol film in Windows Media Player (opens in new window)
- Watch out City Academy Bristol film in Realplayer (opens in new window)
- Read our City Academy Bristol feature ‘Performing Small Miracles Every Day’
This week, Tony Blair said academies ‘are specifically designed for the schools that are underperforming and failing; the beneficiaries being some of the poorest kids in the inner city.’
Their aim is to ‘break the cycle of underachievement in areas of social and economic deprivation.’
To become an academy, a school must raise up to £2m from private sponsors. In return, the government pays the rest of the start-up costs, typically £25m.
10 new academies opened in September of 2005, bringing the total to 27. The government is aiming to open 200 by 2010.
A recent survey found that 87 per cent of parents with children at academies were satisfied with the quality of education, while 80 per cent of teachers believed all their pupils could achieve good results there.
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