Academy is smart investment for all

10 July 2008

Publication: The Argus

I love Brighton. I was born here, went to school here, worked here and still have a home here. I am now very proud to be the sponsor of the proposed academy at Falmer High School.

I have watched with considerable interest the comments made about the role of a sponsor and the academy programme.

I thought it was timely for me to say more about why I want to do this and what I hope to achieve.

I believe that a good education offers the best opportunity for a person to have a rewarding life and a fulfilling career.

My educational development was not a happy experience. I failed my 11-plus and was condemned to a secondary education where pupils and teachers alike made the best of a bad job.

Thankfully, I had some talent for sport and I left at 16, eventually achieving five GCSEs.

I was left to find my own way with little career advice and opportunities closed to me because of my educational underachievement. But I had determination, a strong work ethic and supportive parents.

My first job was as postboy at East Sussex County Council but I qualified as an accountant at the age of 23. After a career in the public sector, it was not until my mid 30s I realised that I had a flair for business.

I spent 22 years developing the company I started in 1984 (Capita) and when I retired it was one of the UK's top 100 companies, employing 27,000 people.

My efforts now are directed towards my foundation's work, which I have focused upon educational underachievement and those groups most socially excluded.

The area served by the school at Falmer has many challenging circumstances. The catchment is formed almost entirely of one ward which is in the top 10% for deprivation nationally.

Some 35% of those aged 16 to 74 have no qualifications and young people have the highest "not in education, training and employment" rate of the whole of the city. Around 50% of the children attending the school have special education needs and 37.6% are on free school meals as against a national average of 13.6%. Government investment alone can't change this but I believe the young people and the community who live there can.

The academy is at the heart of this opportunity for change, representing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a momentum and a catalyst for that change.

I read with interest that some people believe we have been seduced by "simple bricks and mortar". It is so much more than that for me.

I accept that the school has made considerable progress under the current leadership of the head and governors. I have publicly recognised this and congratulated them. However, I doubt that with the current facilities it will be possible to take this progress to the next level which everybody so clearly wants. Presently almost three quarters of pupils leave without an A to C grade in GCSE English or maths. None of us can accept this position and we must work together to change it.

Let's also clear up some misconceptions.

The admissions policy to be adopted for the academy will be the current admissions policy of the local authority. I see the principal as the CEO of the academy, not me as sponsor.

The principal will be appointed through open competition and selected by a panel of people, including myself.

They will be accountable to governors, including representatives of staff, parents and community, who will set the academy's policy. I believe it should include representatives of the young people that attend the academy.

My role is to work with all stakeholders to make this project happen and to bring the passion and commitment needed for this to be achieved.

My financial contribution does not go towards building costs which has been suggested but is an endowment to provide funds for pupils and the school community to enable them to engage in opportunities currently beyond their reach.

I see the academy as a partnership involving all the key stakeholders, including the two universities, City College and the Albion football club's community stadium, all of which are strong partners and support this development contrary to what has been suggested in the press. I have chosen the specialisms of sport and entrepreneurship for a purpose. Sport because I believe in competitive activity to bring the best out of people and entrepreneurship because it describes a state of mind where you do not accept your lot, you don't have a fear of failure, you simply get up and try again.

This approach changed my life and I believe it will change the lives of others by creating a culture of "I can" rather than "can I?"

Young people will be able to experience starting a business, be introduced to role models and gain valuable working experience.

The specialism will also cover social entrepreneurship enabling them to understand their rights as a citizen, their role in the community and include volunteering for projects as a way of feeling commitment towards the community.

I am convinced someone attending the Falmer Academy will go to Oxford or Cambridge University, someone will represent their country at sport, or become a top entrepreneur creating employment opportunities for others rather than expecting employment to be provided for them.

I can understand concern about change but I have never been able to accept people who have a closed mind to even discussing change.

This is not about political ideology but about the lives of young people and we should not play politics with the futures of our children.

Put starkly, if we turn down this opportunity a nine-year-old today will be condemned to having all of his or her education in Falmer as the buildings are today. It is within our gift to change that.

What would future generations say if we turned down this opportunity?