Granville Academy

Granville Academy is a proud member of Affinity Learning Partnership - where everyone belongs, progresses and thrives. In joining us, you’ll bring this ethos to life in everything you do and in every interaction with our inspiring and enthusiastic children.

Our site benefitted from a recent £5 million new build programme, which included a new sports hall and science and technology facilities. The most recent addition of a new block housing Humanities is testament to the rapid growth and success of our academy, and we are committed to ensuring our facilities reflect our ambition and serve our students and community well. The infrastructure increasingly supports high-quality teaching and learning; there is an ambition to suite all rooms with interactive Apple TVs that ensure pedagogical techniques maximise outcomes, giving our students an environment in which they feel safe, are productive and are proud.

History & Ethos

Granville Academy's ethos is in line with the other six schools in our Trust. Our vision is 'To ensure that all the children and young people in our care have the opportunity to fulfil their potential through achieving highly, regardless of their ability or background'. We have a clear strategy for achieving this. Our values are the mechanism through which this vision will be achieved, and we expect staff and students to live them every day. They are to 'work hard, be kind, choose wisely'. We believe that these values are both central to success within education and also key values that allow us to be successful in life. We explicitly teach and promote these values, expecting our students within our academy to show acts of kindness, gratitude and self-discipline within lessons, within social time and within their wider community. We support this by upholding the highest of expectations within a warm, strict culture in which high-quality teaching and learning is the heartbeat of a lesson.

Location

Swadlincote is known for its rich pottery and mining heritage, is the main town in South Derbyshire and is located at the heart of the National Forest. The area also boasts lots of places to eat and socialise and sits in the heart of the National Forest and offering lots of leisurely walks. Conkers offers a fun-filled family day out, whilst there is a ski slope for those more adventurous. The area is also very close to the National Arboretum at Alrewas. Swadlincote is within easy reach of the Peak District and the Derbyshire Dales for those who want to travel a little further for days or a weekend away.

If you are looking to move to the area, Swadlincote offers homes for first-time buyers through to those with growing families looking to move to bigger properties. Property prices range from £70,000 through to over £400,000, depending on what you are looking for. According to a local estate agent, the most sought-after areas are the Castleton Park estate and the Woodlands estate within Swadlincote, plus the outlying villages of Overseal, Netherseal, Oakthorpe, Measham, Moira, and Donisthorpe. If you are looking to rent in the area, properties start at approximately £80 through to £200 per week.

Facilities

Suited within our £5 million development, our new facilities include a purpose-built sports hall; four science classrooms, including a specialist physics laboratory; an activity studio; a fitness suite; and two design and technology rooms, including one with a heat treatment bay.

Other areas of development have been the new humanities suite and a purpose-built designated library that is both vibrant and stimulating for our students. With further developments and refurbishment planned, we commit to this continued investment to ensure our students and local community have the facilities and learning environment they deserve, which will further support our progress and journey towards excellence.

The de Ferrers Academy is an Apple Distinguished School and has disseminated best practice in this area to all of the schools in the Trust. All students have their own iPads, and staff are provided with one, too.

CPD

The Trust believes that professional development is key to successful engagement and retention, offering excellent opportunities for colleagues to grow and achieve. We are committed to coaching as part of our offer and believe that it is an entitlement to improve our pedagogical practice. We have an open and honest culture in which we strive to be 1% better each day in all that we do, with our craft and subject knowledge being central to this development. We recognise the need for career-stage CPD and are committed to offering NPQ opportunities where appropriate. As a Trust and academy, we know that highly skilled, well-qualified and passionate teachers are our best resource, and we seek to grow, nurture and develop experts within a supportive professional offer. We offer an extensive and well-supported ECF programme. Being part of a multi-academy trust opens opportunities for advancement to promoted posts or cross-trust working groups in order to share best practice and exposure to working in situations with like-minded individuals, enabling that personal growth.

Benefits

Staff can benefit from free use of the brand-new fitness suite (following induction by PE staff!), and within our academy, we have a well-being programme that is highly valued by staff.