Birmingham’s newest 14-16 year old education provider, Bournville College Academy, which has just achieved an Ofsted grade 2, was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Yvonne Mosquito on the 6th of February.
The Academy was delighted to welcome local dignitaries and education professionals to the event. The Lord Mayor, along with Mr Chaudry Khaliq and Principal Mike Hopkins, performed the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the Academy based at Bournville College in Longbridge.
Bournville College Academy is providing increased educational and vocational opportunities to young people across the city, especially in south Birmingham. The Academy hopes to attract up to 250 students over the next three years, providing clear vocational, as well as academic pathways in the areas of:
- Health Science
- Engineering
- Digital and Creative Media
One of the key aims and ethos of the Academy and College is to increase access to education for those young people for whom traditional schools do not provide the best route or vocational opportunities. They provide pathways to people from post 16 years upwards to pre-university and university level education. For example, a student could start their education at 14 at the Academy and progress through the College and leave at 21 with a foundation or full degree.
The Lord Mayor said, “Education is something that I have championed for some time now. Amongst other projects, I have led an organisation that helped youngsters out of the cycle of deprivation to go on into further and higher education. So I am more than happy to show my support of South & City and Bournville College by being here this afternoon.”
Mike Hopkins added, “The Bournville College Academy has existed in a small form for two years now and a number of our Academy students have gained qualifications and have progressed to study at the wider South & City College. In fact almost all of the 2018 cohort have progressed into further education courses at the college. We have recently expanded our offer to include students who were home educated, which has proved very popular. We are now looking to build on this success and work with local schools and other education providers to continue to improve the life chances for young people.”
For more information about Bournville College Academy, visit:
www.sccb.ac.uk/school
