Army school to get academy status

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/education/8024413.stm

Version 0 of 1.

An historic boarding school for the sons and daughters of service personnel has been approved for academy status.

The independent Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover, Kent, offers Ministry of Defence subsidised places for 500 pupils aged 11 to 18 years.

Now the Department for Children, Schools and Families has issued a "statement of intent" to grant academy status to the school from next year.

The school was founded in 1803 and provides an education for £550 a term.

Under the academy status plan, Duke of York's Royal Military School would receive £37m in funding to become a military academy.

This would include £23m from the DCSF to refurbish boarding and teaching facilities and £14m from the MoD, which would continue to be the school's main sponsor.

The proposals will also allow the school to increase its pupil intake substantially from 500 to 720.

The government's academy programme is ordinarily aimed at turning around failing state schools, but in this case, the aim is to safeguard the future of the school as the MoD faces tighter budgets, and to allow for its expansion.

As part of its academy status, the school will have links with local state schools, a spokeswoman for the DCSF said.

Lower fees

The school's head teacher, Charles Johnson, said he hoped fees would come down and more children of service personnel would be able to benefit from an education at the school.

All pupils are taken on a boarding basis

Mr Johnson said some of the pupils at the school had been to as many as seven primary schools as their families moved around for new postings.

"The need for continuity of a stable education is crucial and boarding school can deliver that," he said.

Granting the school academy status was a way of improving education provision for the children of servicemen and women, he added.

"The government has shown itself to be very interested in the welfare of service personnel.

"This is part of a whole government initiative to look after not just service people, but also their families."

'Ideal option'

Schools minister Jim Knight said academy status was an "ideal option" for the school.

"The flexibility of the academy programme means that while they can be brought into the family of local state schools, they can continue to march to the beat of their own drum by retaining their military ethos and curriculum," he said.

"They can continue to offer an exceptional quality of education to the children of service personnel and boarding facilities for those families who are often on the move."

Defence minister Kevan Jones said: "The children of servicemen and women will remain a priority and the school will retain its distinctive military ethos.

"Today's announcement will enable more pupils to attend Duke of York's School and enjoy their new state of the art facilities."