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 What's Edge anyway - are you in it for the money?
  No. Edge is not a business, it's a charity devoted to practical and vocational learning – that is giving young people a choice of high quality educational options to help them get good jobs. 

 Do Milton Keynes people want this Academy?
 The majority of people who returned one of our questionnaires were in favour.

 You say you will specialise in business and enterprise – what does that mean? Will other subjects suffer?
  Edge believes that business and enterprise is a very good way of preparing young people for great careers and making sure they will always be in demand by employers. There will be business studies courses for those that want them, but there will be lots of other vocational and academic courses. We'll be working with the local FE college, universities and local businesses to give students a real idea of the careers on offer and the learning, skills and attitude they'll need to succeed.

 Who will run the school?
  The head teacher and teaching staff. The governing body - made up of teachers, parents, local people, local businesses and Edge representatives - will decide how the school works. For example, the governors will ask  teachers to make sure that all students get a chance to see how what they learn is applied in real workplaces.

 Won't all the old problems still be there in the new Academy?
  We fully understand the challenges that the present school faces. Our aim is to provide a much more engaging way of learning that is focused on what students need in real life.  We believe that this will help students move on positively and cope with the challenges they may face.

 Is the Academy for all types of students?
  It will be open to everybody in the catchment area, like Sir Frank Markham school is now, and we'll build on its expertise in meeting the needs of all students.  
We'll use the experiences of feeder schools, representatives from the different ethnic minority groups, social services etc. to make sure that all students get the help suited to their needs, with a relevant, engaging curriculum and high-quality teaching and learning.

 Doesn't 'vocational' mean dumbing down? Aren't these courses a cop-out for under-achievers?
  Absolutely not. Vocational means making courses suitable for a particular career. Edge has a strong commitment to high-quality vocational courses that are as tough as the more academic ones. The Academy will allow students a choice of academic and vocational subjects - and the opportunity to combine both.

 Will the Academy take students with special educational needs?
  The Academy will adopt the local authority's policy on special educational needs, meaning that the school will be open to all and will have its fair share of SEN students in the same way that Sir Frank Markham school does now - in fact students with statements of special educational needs get preference.

 How will the Academy meet the needs of the many different ethnic groups in the area?
  The existing school already has expertise in this area and we will also draw on the experiences of feeder schools and representatives from the different ethnic minority groups in the area to ensure that we provide the best education for all our students.

 How will the Academy engage and motivate children who come from more disadvantaged backgrounds?
  We will build on the expertise that already exists at Sir Frank Markham and we will draw on the experience of other schools plus social services to ensure that these students get the help they need. We believe that the relevant, engaging curriculum and high quality teaching and learning will help to motivate and inspire students. Our aim is to provide a much more engaging way of learning that is focused on what students will need in real life and will help them move on positively in life.

 How will exclusions be managed?
  The Academy will aim to minimise the need for exclusions through the quality of its teaching and the engagement of its students. Edge will make no change to current exclusion policy and will be adopting the local authority's policy on these issues.

 Will the catchment area change?
 No, the catchment area will remain the same.

 Will the facilities in the Academy be better?
  Yes. We will have entirely new buildings with all the facilities vastly improved.

 Will the Academy provide extra-curricular activities?
  Yes. We will work with a range of organisations and local businesses to ensure that the Academy's students have the opportunity to widen their horizons and learn new skills through extra-curricular activities.

 Is the Academy going to be built on land that is proposed for a new church, or that already has houses on it?
  No, the academy will be built on existing school land.

 Will the Academy provide adult-learning facilities and room for community groups to meet?
  As part of our aim to ensure that the academy is truly a part of the community, we intend to build a new school that can provide facilities for the wider community. This includes looking at the possibility of new facilities being used for adult learning and an 'enterprise hub' where fledgling businesses can set up and trade, as well as a meeting place for community groups. A cine club has already been suggested!

 Don't you think that the Academy should focus on educational activities only and leave community activities to community groups?
  Edge is campaigning for an educational system that provides people with real-world skills, not just academic knowledge that they find hard to apply in later life. Much of this can be gained through involvement with community groups. By bringing the school and these groups together we can ensure that our students have better opportunities to get involved with these groups and widen their horizons and that the groups themselves get support through provision of facilities.

 Will there be any specialised subjects?
 Yes. We're looking to have business and enterprise as a specialism.

 Why business and enterprise?
 Because we believe that it will help to make people from this academy more employable when they leave. Those subjects will give you skills that can be used immediately on leaving school.

 What's the difference between a school and an academy?
 There's not a huge difference: a school is run by the local education authority (LEA), an academy is effectively a charity outside of the LEA control and not bound by so many rules. However, we will want our academy to work closely with LEA schools in the area. This academy in particular will be different from local schools because we will offer a more practical activities and a wider range of subjects.

 What will Edge's role be?
 We'll be part of the governing body and will do things like select the head of the academy and determine the type of learning available. This will involve deciding the curriculum and teaching practices.

 Will the Woughton Centre still be a part of the school?
 We are waiting the outcome of the feasibility study, which will tell us if we are able to retain the Centre or whether we have to make other arrangements.

 Will we keep the mobile classrooms?
 We hope not! It is our intention that the school will be large enough to not require the mobile classrooms.

 What will students do whilst the new school is being built?
 They'll work in the current buildings.

 How many students will there be in the academy?
  Around 1300.

 Will we be in one building?
 Yes, we believe that keeping the students together will promote a friendlier, more constructive atmosphere.

 Will the curriculum change?
 Yes, we'll have more freedom to be innovative about the curriculum.

 What will happen to the old school?
 It will be demolished to make space for new playing fields and outdoor facilities.

 Where will the new school be built?
 On the current playing fields.

 Will we be able to still do PE when this happens?
 We'll be talking to other schools about sharing facilities. There are a few local schools that will hopefully be able to accommodate the sporting needs of the academy while it's in construction.

 Won't the residents around the current playing fields be upset?
 It will all go through the normal planning process where residents' views will be taken into account.

 Will the school day change?
 That's an interesting option that we can look at.

 Will there be a safe place for bikes?
 Yes!

 Will the academy be fenced?
 We'll try to find a way of securing it without making it look like a prison.

 What role will students have in planning for the new academy?
 We hope that the school council will advise on things like new school design, uniforms, classroom size, canteen menus, curriculum, etc. We can't promise that you'll get what you ask for but we are very interested to hear your views.

 Will the school be split into different sections for years, etc?
 We'd be in terested in your views on this. Email us at miltonkeynesquestions@edge.co.uk.

 Will there be social clubs?
 Yes.

 Will the timetable change?
 Possibly, there might be things like breakfast clubs, etc. And we're open to ideas. Email us at miltonkeynesquestions@edge.co.uk.

 Can we have longer break times?!
 Not sure about that!

 Will there be disabled facilities?
 The new building regulations will demand this, so yes.

 Will there be an extended range of academic subjects available for all students - particularly for more academically able children or those who don't want to take vocational or practical courses? e.g. the option to take separate science and humanities sub
 There will certainly be a broad curriculum offered in the proposed Academy and therefore it will offer a wide range of academic, as well as vocational, subjects. As sponsors, Edge simply believes in ?parity of esteem? between Academic and Vocational learning paths. As you say if a student is more academically able, and keen to pursue an academic route, then he/she should be able to. Likewise if a student is keen to develop a more vocational path then he/she should be able to.

 Milton Keynes Academy Questions and Answers