New Build

Courtesy Birmingham Post.net

Located in the shadow of the M6, you can hear the roar of cars on the motorway outside Dartmouth High School. Massive electric power cables run adjacent to the site which consists of dated 60s buildings. Surrounded by fallen autumn leaves, the scene is somewhat desolate.

All that, however, is about to change. Outside the school entrance, there's a billboard containing an artist's impression of a futuristic and airy building that would not look out of place on a business park. Above, the sign proclaims: "Q3 Academy. The journey has begun."

Builders have already started clearing the ground for this centre of learning which will replace Dartmouth High in Sandwell. When it opens its doors in November 2009, it will also open up a whole new era in education locally.

Pupils - who will now be called students - will be grouped into five "companies" depending on the subjects they are studying:

communications - encompassing English, media and languages;
arts, including music and drama;
a discovery "company" including maths and science;
lifestyle, which encompasses things like hair and beauty
social design will have history and geography.

Dartmouth High's headteacher Caroline Badyal claims the school is "ripe to move on to the next step of change".

And the city academy programme, she believes, offers exactly the vehicle to bring about that change.

"Before I applied for the head post at Q3, I made sure I visited a number of academies across the country to make sure I understood and was clear about the opportunities they create for young people," she said. "From my first visit I could see it was the right direction to move in. But I wasn't prepared to go into it blindly. I made sure I did my research."

Despite opposition to the academy concept - which take schools outside local authority control backed by a private sponsor - Ms Badyal believes the tide of public opinion is beginning to change.

"When prospective parents come to look around the school and what we are going to be doing, it is almost as if they have forgotten all the bad press and they want to know what they can do to make sure their child gets a place."

So what about the new school's unusual name?

"Q3 is the name the sponsor came up with. It is a modern name. It is a bit like O2. There isn't a school in the country like that," said Ms Badyal.

The "Q" in the name originates from the Latin word "quaerere", meaning "seek after" or "search for". The "3" stands for the three ideals that will dominate the new school: to seek what is true, what is good and what is right.

But just as attention-grabbing is Q3's radical re-organisation.

"The first major change is the way we are going to structure it," said Ms Badyal.

"It is moving away from a traditional departmental system to a company structure. I will be the chief executive and my two vice-principals will be executive directors.

"My assistant heads are strategic directors and then I have personalised learning directors who where traditionally heads of years.

"Teachers are learning consultants because their purpose is to facilitate learning."

Even the way pupils are looked upon is to change at the new school. "Their uniform will be like a suit," said Ms Badyal.

"There will be navy pin-striped jackets with navy trousers. Girls won't wear ties because they wouldn't wear ties in business.

"They will have a corporate blouse. The boys will wear a company tie depending on which one of the five companies they belong to."

The school has also just introduced a "leadership for life" course designed to equip youngsters with the kind of soft skills that will help them get on in the world of work beyond education.

At the heart of the whole project, of course, is the new £32 million building spread over a 36-acre site.

Described as "world class" by the school, it will contain a cyber cafe, a hair and beauty salon, a 340-seat theatre and photography studio.

Ms Badyal said: "We want young people to have the best environment they possibly can. I want them to be excited about coming to school."

A glossy, company-style brochure provides further details of Q3's innovative approach. It contains the following paragraph - which probably best sums up the ethos of the new school: "The academy will reinforce the statement that 'education must be about opening new doors, not constantly reopening old ones'."

Copyright 2008 Q3 Academy