What is an Academy?
An academy is an all-ability, state-funded school established and managed by a wide range of sponsors, including high-performing schools and colleges, universities, individual philanthropists, businesses, the voluntary sector and faith communities.
Some academies are established education providers, and all of them bring a record of success, which they are able to apply to their academies in partnership with experienced school managers.
Sponsors challenge traditional thinking on how schools are run and what they should be like for learners. They seek to make a complete break with cultures of low aspiration, which afflict too many communities and their schools. Sirius Academy wants this to happen, which is why we entrust the governance of our Academy to them.
Once the Academy is established, the sponsor sets up an endowment fund, the proceeds of which are spent by the Academy Trust on measures to counteract the impact of deprivation on education in the local community.
Academies have the backing of the local authority, which has a seat on the governing body. Academies are not, however, maintained by the local authority, although they collaborate closely with it, and with other schools in the area.
The governing body and principal have responsibility for managing the Academy. To determine the ethos and leadership of the Academy and ensure clear responsibility and accountability, the private sector or charitable sponsor always appoints the majority of governors.
All academies are bound by the same Schools Admission Code - the SEN Code of Practice and exclusions guidance - as that of other state-funded schools. They are required to follow the National Curriculum programme in English, maths, science and ICT. All academies have specialist status in one or more subjects.
A ‘school within schools’
The Academy, with the new build in 2010, will be divided into 3 ‘schools’ each comprising 550 learners from years 7-13. Learners will develop a strong identity with their ‘school’ and be known by and know the staff that belong to their ‘school’.
A “school within schools” structure is explicitly designed to facilitate the Academy approach to learner support and its approach to a personalised learning package. Each ‘school’ will have its own head and will develop as an individual learning community within the wider community of the Academy.
