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Merchants’ Academy Office
@symes
Peterson Avenue
Hartcliffe
Bristol
BS13 0BE
t: 0845 6442145
Academy Newsletters
The Academy produces regular newsletters to keep staff and students of Withywood Community School informed of developments as the Academy prepares for opening in September. The latest newsletters are below.
Academy Newsletter - December 07
Academy Newsletter - April 08
Summary of news from the last three years
Merchants' Academy has been sponsored by two of the great institutions of Bristol. The Merchant Venturers are a society dating back hundreds of years with a history of successful involvement in educational and other social projects. The University of Bristol celebrates its centenary in 2009 and offers a range of expertise across all educational disciplines. Together they form a very powerful sponsor partnership that has developed the vision for the Merchants' Academy during the last few years.
Initially both sponsors responded to the government's request to become involved in the Academy's programme and some careful research was undertaken before they were ready to produce the vision for their Academy. The 'Making the Difference' paper concisely summarised the issues surrounding education in South Bristol and communicated a vision about how it could be successfully tackled.
The new Academy has been designed to accommodate the three session day that has been successfully pioneered by other schools such as Thomas Telford. At its core is a building that is flexible and user friendly for both students and staff. The emphasis will be on personalised learning that will allow each student to engage fully with his/her learning and progress at a pace suitable for each individual. Both partner sponsors believed very strongly that it is necessary to create a strong ethos of ownership and enjoyment within a purposeful and creative atmosphere.
In April the new Principal Designate Mr Stephen Kings was appointed and he has been working closely with the Project Board of Merchants' Academy to develop the curriculum and other policies that will be ready for implementation in September 2008 at the opening of the Academy.
Latest news
The building of Merchants' Academy continues to progress on time and to budget. The Academy prospectus will be issued in early September to allow prospective parents and students who are considering applying for entry in 2008 to study in detail what the Academy will offer to its students.
