AN ACADEMY which has seen tremendous success in Birmingham has opened a new learning centre in Worcester.
The Archway Academy was officially opened in Carden Street last Wednesday (October 22) by the Mayor of Worcester, Coun Alan Amos.
Students have previously had to commute from the city to Birmingham’s Archway Academy, which has been in operation for ten years and caters for youngsters aged 16 to 18 not in educational training or long-term employment.
The city base will offer the same as its counterpart, which includes courses in bricklaying, painting and decorating, carpentry, hospitality, hair and beauty and business administration.
Jamie Barber, functional skills tutor, said: “Our remit is to give these people a vocational skill and also to improve their maths and English while teaching them the sort of skills they need to live independently.
“I know in the past we have had students contracted to our building in Birmingham from the Worcestershire area and I think the headmaster saw it was an opportunity in the local area to help many more people.
“I think what it offers from a lot of educational establishments is that we can tailor this programme to some degree to our learners.
“We focus our lessons on things that learners are already interested in.”
The school will be open from Monday to Thursday from 9am to 3pm and having already expanded from Birmingham, Mr Barber said he sees no reason why they cannot go further afield.
“We have worked in the city now for about 12 years and I know before that the headmaster has worked in education for a lot longer so that is why we have expanded,” he added.
“I know we are very ambitious as a school and we obviously are here to try and help people, I can’t see why we couldn’t expand but I also couldn’t tell you at this exact time whether that is in the pipeline.”
For more information visit www.archwayacademy.org.uk, enquire at the Carden Street building or contact them by calling 01905 780000.
