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Our Specialism

 

Science

At Stockport Academy our specialism is science supported by a theme of business and enterprise.

Over the last two years our promotion of science in the academy has led to massive uptake of science at AS and now A2 level with half the students in our year 12 cohort taking science subjects.

We have also taken science out into the community by supporting science in our local primary schools, taking teams of teachers, support staff and sixth formers into local primary schools to promote science, and bringing primary children into the Academy to benefit from outstanding facilities.

Our science week was celebrated across the school with activities in all subjects promoting science and its impact across the curriculum. This year Science week is from March 15th to 19th 2010 and will have a theme of Exploring and Discovering. It will begin with an event involving schools from the local authority and incorporating the ‘Stargazer' Rocket.

Our science clubs have been extended so there are now two clubs run as popular enrichment activities. One is dedicated to finding the fun in science and incorporates practical activities and experiments. The other club is part of the schools ‘Every Child Matters - Be Healthy' agenda and allows students to grow their own fruit and vegetables which can then be used in food technology. A secure area of the school grounds has been set aside as an ‘allotment' for this. Both clubs are open to all students at the academy.

The whole academy participates in a weekly science quiz which aims to engage students interest in science. Each college has a winning form at the end of the year and they compete in a nail biting final, won on the last question by Orion 5 last year.

Business and Enterprise

We believe that all students at the academy should have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of the business world and to have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their Enterprise skills.

Last year we entered many competitions and challenges where our students were given the opportunity to develop and run small business enterprises. We came a very close second in Stockport's "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" competition where our students researched, developed and operated the "Froco" fruit chocolate kebab brand. The students had to present their business to hundreds of people and a panel of judges. Here are some of the comments our students made about the experience:

"I enjoyed being a part of the "Froco" company because I really liked the fact that my ideas could come to life and so professionally. This was so much fun because it helped me bring my confidence up as I was elected to present and enjoyed having the responsibility not to fail the team. This responsibility made me try harder as I know that if everything went wrong it would be partly my fault. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body on the night, I knew what my weaknesses were and just had to practice and improve to get it right. All in all this was an amazing experience as the skills I picked up in this project will definitely help me in my life."

"Before we showed our presentation, we were all really nervous about getting the words wrong and getting our timings wrong. During the presentation, we overcame our fears and went through it calmly. After the presentation, we were all shaking for some odd reason! We had all enjoyed it so much, that we didn't care if we came first or last."

We also attended a challenge day at Manchester University. The students were asked to rebrand a product and use their ICT and Business knowledge and skills to "pitch" their new brand to a panel of dragons. Our creativity and skills were excellent securing us a very respectable second place.

This year we will be developing the Business and Enterprise theme further with all year 7 students having business as part of their curriculum. They will be learning lots of business concepts and ideas and will have the opportunity to find out about businesses in their local area. We will also be developing enterprise with all students taking part in this year's "Make your mark challenge" as a whole school activity day to mark the start of "Global Entrepreneurship week".

Overall, Science and Business and Enterprise give our students key skills that will enable them to become mature, independent individuals, able to cope and adapt to the changing employment world of the 21st century.