Brent: Academies to open with new uniforms and plans for multi-million pound new school buildings

PUPILS from the former John Kelly Boys’ and Girls’ Technology Colleges will start the academic year as students of the new Crest Boys’ and Crest Girls’ academies which open their doors on September 7.

With a refreshed look and new uniforms the academies, sponsored by EACT, are based in the existing school buildings but will move to new purpose-built accommodation in 2013. Meanwhile extensive improvement work has been carried out during the summer to maintain the site while design and planning for the new buildings takes place.

Multi-academy sponsor EACT is opening six academies – which are independently-sponsored schools within the state sector – in Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds and London. 

Crest Girls’ Principal, Bev Bell, said: “I’m delighted and very excited to be opening as a new academy. We have great plans for the future and I hope all our students will enjoy the experiences and opportunities they can look forward to at Crest Girls’.  We believe that becoming an academy will transform the educational offer to our students and communities.”

Crest Boys’ new Principal, Keith Miller, said: “We are very proud to be opening as an academy. Staff have worked hard in the last 12 months to prepare for a step change as the former school transfers under our new sponsor. Becoming an academy is ultimately about improving opportunities and the life chances of young people and we’re really looking forward to getting involved in designing and developing our new facilities.”

Students at both academies will mark the transformation with distinctive new uniforms, and the academies benefit from new logos and a new name. Students helped design the uniform and logos – something the academies are very proud of.  Likewise students, staff and the local community will be closely involved in helping develop the design of the new academy buildings.

Sir Bruce Liddington, the former Schools Commissioner for England and Director General of EACT said: “We have a clear vision for our academies and that is to deliver educational excellence for all. At the Crest academies we aim to achieve very high standards of education and learning. Developing a new academy is a huge opportunity to really make a difference as well as providing excellent new facilities for the future which will benefit students and the wider community for decades to come.”

Crest Boys’, which has 670 students on roll, and 100 staff, and Crest Girls’ which has 920 students and 150 staff, will join four other new EACT-sponsored academies opening in September. EACT’s first academy, Trent Valley in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, is this month moving into a new £33 million purpose-built academy building.