Welcome from the Principal

St Anne’s Academy opened on 1 September 2007 and will move into new, state of the art buildings in 2010. A sixth form will open in September 2008 and ultimately the academy will have 900 students, including 150 in the sixth form. It is sponsored by David and Anne Crossland with the Church of England.

Our Governors and I, are committed to providing our community with a world class school and one where every youngster is supported in achieving their highest ambitions. We have got off to a great start.

The Academy is based on its predecessor school, The Queen Elizabeth, Rochdale and the majority of the staff, including myself and our Vice Principal, Jacqui King, were appointed to the new academy. Over a five year period we had successfully transformed a school that was in special measures to one that was in the top 5% nationally on the basis of value added. In the same period GCSE results rose from 12% to 52%. The 2006 OFSTED Inspection described a “good and improving school” with some outstanding features including “exemplary leadership and management”.

The academy is built upon very sound foundations and we are now determined to become one of the most successful in the country. Our specialisms are ICT and the Built Environment and we are established in the development of learning and teaching. We are a pilot school for the new Specialist diploma in ICT and will introduce the diploma in Construction and the Built Environment in 2009. As an ICT specialist, we hope to become a world leader in this area. The academy is more than a menu of subjects, more importantly we want to bring a working definition to the term personalisation by developing a curriculum that really does reflect the needs and aspirations of all of our students.

We believe that everyone in our community has the right to feel valued and that it is our responsibility to build a structure that enables this to happen. Pastoral care and emotional well being are as important as academic achievement and this is reflected in our decision to organise the academy on the basis of four units, a year 7 foundation base and three individual, vertically grouped schools within the academy.

Whilst recognising that the academy exists for the benefit of the students, we want St Anne’s Academy to be a place where staff can realise their ambitions and develop their careers. We intend to be at the cutting edge of change and engage in high profile projects that enable our students to achieve more. We want to hear from those colleagues who are exceptional in what they do and who truly believe that they can make a difference to our academy.

Are you a “big” person with big personality, big ideas and big heart? Are you someone who can help us move to that next level? We want to meet those of you who are dynamic, passionate, dedicated and driven by your own success and by that of the young people who you work with. St Anne’s is a great place to work, the relationships within the staff and with the students are truly exceptional.

We look forward to meeting you.

Eric Jackson
Principal