Foundation Academies

The Aldridge Foundation harnesses entrepreneurship as a catalyst for social change, in particular to help young people reach their potential, become active citizens and improve their communities.   

To this end, the Foundation sponsors non-selective community Academies (run as separate Charitable Trusts) in areas of disadvantage, low aspiration and poor attainment.  Each Academy has entrepreneurship as its lead specialism which is integrated into all areas of Academy life – focusing on the development of entrepreneurial attributes, rather than just enterprise skills.  

Our definition of the entrepreneurial mindset is one ‘which strives to take action, solve problems, and rejects the status quo’.  The attributes that we reward in students and prioritise in all our work are passion, creativity, teamwork, risk taking, determination, discipline, problem solving and vision.   

Each Academy offers resources and physical spaces to support entrepreneurial activities developed by members of the wider community as well as for its student body.   

The Foundation and its Academies also work in partnership with local individuals and organisations (charitable, voluntary, commercial, public sector) to develop each Academy as a civic and community asset.  Our Academies are non-selective and free, with admissions based on the existing local authority system, and there are no entrance examinations. 

Academy Schools are schools funded directly by the Government, rather than the local authority, and have “sponsors” who contribute extra resources and new ideas to benefit the students. Sponsors must be approved by the Government, to ensure they are capable of running an Academy successfully. 

Like all schools, Aldridge Academies are inspected by OFSTED, and our GCSE results are made public. Each one has a Principal and Leadership team who are responsible for the day to day running of the Academy, with a Board of Governors that includes parents, teachers, Foundation staff, community and local organisations, responsible for ensuring the Academy meets the education standards it is set, and the needs of the local community it serves. 

We opened our first Academy in September 2008, in Darwen, Lancashire, with a second following in September 2010 in Falmer, Brighton, a third Academy at Portslade, also in Brighton, a year later, and a fourth in September 2012 on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio school is due to open in 2013 and Kensington Aldridge Academy is scheduled to open in 2014 in North Kensington, London.

The Foundation is also a lead partner in the recently announced University Technical Colleges for MediaCity in Salford and Newhaven in Sussex.