Darwen Academy's state of the art plans (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen Academy's state of the art plans

3:54pm Thursday 8th May 2008 in

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DARWEN Academy will be doing away with traditional school uniforms, school bells and timetables when it opens in September.

The school, which will cater for 1,600 students, will also have a state of the art ICT infrastructure, a 240-seater central dining area, a new sports hall, a multi-use games area, an aerobics studio and gym and a vocational skills centre.

Details were revealed after Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families (DCSF), along with the Academy Trust and Blackburn with Darwen Council, reached a funding agreement for the £45million school.

The Academy will open its doors in September in its predecessor school, Darwen Moorland.

Work on the new town centre site, which will include the revolutionary changes, is due to start in June after a deal was finally done to ensure Redearth residents moved off the site.

It is planned that in early 2010 students will start transferring to the "iconic landmark" building.

The Academy is funded directly by the DCSF, with a £2million contribution from the foundation of the sponsor Rod Aldridge.

The Academy is one of only a few schools in the UK to have the main specialism of Entrepreneurship.

Through this specialism, a major aim of the academy will be to significantly contribute to the social, environmental and economic regeneration of the town.

Principal, Brendan Loughran said: "The spirit of entrepreneurship will underpin all aspects of Academy life.

"We will encourage students, staff and other stakeholders to aim high, to take risks and to make things happen.

"We are certainly not afraid to do things differently.

"We are doing away with school bells and traditional timetable structures and our school day will be made up of two main learning sessions with staggered breaks."

Graham Burgess, chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Council, added: "I am delighted the uncertainty is now over. We look forward to another high quality school in our borough which will provide a vital building block for the regeneration of Darwen and equip our young people with the skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century."