RSA Academy celebrates 'educational excellence'
By Lopa Patel, 11 February 2010

What do we think about secondary school education in the UK? Chances are that if you are well past your school days, you won't think about it all, unless you work in education. If you have school-age children though, you probably spend endless hours pouring over league tables, getting clued up on sibling policies and catchment areas and learning the ins and outs of SATs and Key Stage curricula. Generally, we tend not to think about the education model itself - focusing instead on the detail of GCSE pass rates at grades A*-C and what percentage of children leave school equipped with the 3R (reading, writing and arithmetic) skills. What is often ignored is the question 'what is an education for'?

What is an education for?

This question is admirably tackled by the new RSA Academy at Tipton in the West Midlands. A flagship school, which opened in September 2008 and is destined for swanky new premises in August 2010, the academy challenges the current model of teaching, opting instead for the 'opening minds' curriculum. The approach is certainly novel: gone are 45 minute lessons that have been replaced by 3 hour-long lessons instead; gone too are the traditional exams - replaced by a combination of BTec certificates and diplomas, GCSE qualifications, vocational projects and the International Baccalaureate instead of A Levels. The Academy does offer the key stage 3 curriculum for year 7 & 8 intake, but, its ethos is driven by focusing on the individual student. The academic year is divided into five shorter terms rather than the traditional three terms and via international links, the RSA Academy hopes to nurture the 'global citizens' of tomorrow. Vocational learning is a compulsory part of its age 13-19 curriculum and most activity is competency-focused.

Vertical Teaching Groups

The RSA academy has brought in a student parliament, its head boy and head girl attend governors (council) meetings and its staff have been re-titled as the 'Executive Leadership Team' (ELT) with no head of subjects; older children are encouraged to peer-mentor younger ones, students are guided to develop their community skills through an enrichment program that they participate in on Wednesday afternoons and external programs like the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the European 'RISKS' project are enthusiastically adopted by teachers and pupils alike. Students are also encouraged to help design the lesson plans in conjunction with teachers and the result is a keen joy of learning from the majority of pupils. The teaching model that the academy aspires to is a vertical teaching group - with 1-2-1 tutor time, a personalised chart for each child and a balanced academic, sporting and vocational timetable. The Academy even asked pupils for design input for the architecture of their new school building.

Little wonder that a recent student parliament survey at the academy, conducted among pupils, showed a propensity for laptops, active learning, participative (interactive) learning, collaborative working, practical lessons over the traditional chalkboard and notes and that auditory, visual and kinesthetic (in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity) modes of learning were all highly favoured. Year 7 lessons are structured around the RSA 'Opening Minds' competences: namely learning how to learn effectively; citizenship; managing information; managing situations; and relating to people. Students learn how to research - to find out things for themselves, they learn how to work effectively in teams, how to manage their own time and to work to deadlines.

'Opening Minds' curriculum

Principal of the school, Michael Gernon, is the charismatic driver of the innovative 'Opening Minds' approach, "we also have a big focus on parental and community engagement. We had over 550 people attend our recent open day, all of whom were very positive about what the Academy is now achieving and most were desperate to send their child here". The school generates five reports a year to parents and even runs evening courses like 'living with teenagers' as part of its parent council activity. The small (0.89miles) catchment area, sibling policy and innovative approach mean that the academy, which is popular among local residents, is already oversubscribed.

Gernon and his colleagues are keen to stress the ethos of 'regenerating from within' - teaching children to be more confident, well-rounded and valued members of the community. This manifests itself in many forms: from the 'grow your own vegetables' enrichment sessions to peer-to-peer learning models; from student reward trips to London for 100% attendance to a innovative banking scheme (with a small deposit of money) to ensure that workshops are attended and that students learn to manage their own finances (they are only given access to the account on leaving the Academy post 16). RSA Academy students learn to respect themselves, their peers, the ELT and their community and as a result have a more enjoyable schooling experience.

The £30 million state-funded flagship RSA Academy is governed by a Trust, to which the RSA contributed, and it tries to harness the goodwill and support of the wider RSA Fellowship in on-going projects. "We can show a direct correlation between the competency approach and increased attainments and achievement at all levels as a result" explains Michael Gernon. Their 2009 GCSE results certainly prove that - 73% gained 5 or more A*-C grades GCSEs, 81 gained more than 10 GCSEs, 41 gained more than 12 and several students gained between 14 - 17 GCSEs. What is more surprising is that the school is based in an area of high social depravation and industrial decline.

The RSA Academy would like to perfect its model so that it can be a "blue print" for others in terms of curriculum reform and accountability measures. In the near term, Gernon and his colleagues are keen to increase the retention of students into post-16 classes and hope that the International Baccalaureate can help. They plan to move in to their new building in August 2010 - in time for the new intake in September 2010, and become a national training centre for the 'Opening Minds' curriculum. The RSA Academy is already certified as Microsoft IT Academy - enabling it to not only increase the competency of students in using Microsoft products, but also to help local learners increase their employability in the jobs market.

My visit to the RSA Academy with Fellowship Council Members Tessy Britton and Irene Campbell along with Michael Devlin, Head of Fellowship Networks at the RSA and Claire Reilly, Network manager for London region, certainly opened my mind! The motto of the RSA Academy is "transforming learning, transforming lives" - surely 'transforming lives' is the answer to the question 'what is an education for'?

For further details visit www.rsaacademy.org

RSA Fellows interested in working with the RSA Academy should contact:
Rachael Sutton, PA to Lesley James Director of Business Development at the RSA Academy. Tel: 0121-556-1351 / ext: 260. Sutton.r@rsaacademy.org

RSA [Royal Society for the Arts, Manufacturing & Commerce] - visit www.thersa.org for more details.