Community 06.09.18

Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park races to the top of the class

Latest figures show almost 900 students are currently studying on Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park learning, developing new skills and accessing new opportunities.
 
Oasis Academy Don Valley, which opened with its first classes in 2015, is now home to 420 children following the opening of the Academy’s Secondary Phase this September.

The all-through inclusive Academy will grow year-on-year until it reaches full capacity in 2022 and will then educate 1,200 pupils between the ages of 2 and 16 years old.
 
Following its first Ofsted inspection this year the Academy was recognised as ‘good’ in all areas and has also seen extremely positive results in its first Y6 SATS assessments.
 
At UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, which opened in September 2016, a total of 425 13 to 19-year olds now study high quality technical and academic qualifications.
 
Sheffield’s second University Technical College specialises in Computing, Health Sciences and Sport Science. Students can start in Year 9, Year 10 or Year 12 to study a combination of GCSEs and A Levels alongside a technical specialism.
 
The first cohort of 50 students to graduate from UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park this summer celebrated a 100 per cent technical qualification pass rate for Computing, Health Sciences and Sport Science with 70 per cent of students securing university places.
 
68 students completed GSCEs this year, also gaining a 100 per cent technical qualification pass rate for all 3 specialisms.
 
Sarah Clark, Principal at UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, commented: “Working with employer partners at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park provides our students with a valuable insight into the jobs of the future in health, technology and sport science as well as opportunities to volunteer and contribute to the local community.”
 
Jayne Dunn, Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “It’s great to see so many young people developing new skills at the Oasis Academy Don Valley and the UTC, with fantastic results in computing, health and sport science.
 
“Sharing a space with the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre as well as daily use of a world class sport pitch, and the English Institute of Sport, used by the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Nicola Adams, mean that the school and college are able to offer the young people so much more than just academic qualifications.”
 
The next major development on Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park will be the opening of Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) next summer.
 
Building work is underway on the AWRC – designed to be the most advanced research and development centre for health and physical activity in the world, creating ‘innovations to improve health’ with a focus on those that help people move.
 
The Rt Hon Richard Caborn, Project Lead for Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, said: “There is so much to be proud of on Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, but engaging almost 900 children of all ages from Attercliffe, Darnall and further afield in education in just three years is an achievement worth celebrating.
 
 “Oasis Academy Don Valley and UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park are providing local young people with new skills and the chance to access new opportunities which, in the future, will include employment at the AWRC and other research centres, sports facilities and companies located in and around the Park.