New school puts pupils in the digital fast lane
A NEW high school focussing on digital literacy is set to be built in Manchester by one of the UK’s leading internet firms.
Pupils will benefit from the ‘cutting edge’ technical knowledge of cloud hosting firm UKFast, the company’s bosses say.
They hope to create the tech wizards of tomorrow at the academy, which will cater for up to 1,200 pupils and is likely to be built close to the UKFast campus in Hulme.
UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones says bosses at the new-build will be ‘radical’ about the way they approach education.
He said: “We want to make sure everyone gets a really good balance of subjects including English, maths and languages. But the language of PHP and coding is equally as important because it allows you to communicate with huge numbers of people. We want to bridge that skills gap we have been talking about.”
The high school has been given the green light by government chiefs to tackle the growing skills gap in the region. Catering for 11-16 year olds, it aims to combine traditional education and values with digital literacy, equipping them with the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly technology-led workplace.
UKFast has teamed up with educational provider The Dean Trust.
The tech business will provide curricular support, teacher training, work experience and placements, technical workshops and Code Club sessions as part of the partnership.
Mr Jones also hopes that the school will ‘level the playing field’ between boys and girls as they develop digital skills.
He added: “It’s a fallacy for people to say computers are just a guys thing. We run coding clubs with some of the girls schools and often they are more excited than the guys. Coding is about creativity. We’re a very successful tech company at the cutting edge of cloud development so we’re in a privileged position. We will be able to make sure the curriculum is at the cutting edge.”
The publicly-funded academy is scheduled to open within two years as part of the government’s free school drive.
Mr Jones added: “This school will be completely new for Britain and it’s going to be built in Manchester.”