Aldridge Foundation

The Aldridge Foundation is an educational charity which sponsors schools in England. It is based in Piccadilly, London.

The Aldridge Foundation was first registered as a charity in 2006 by Sir Rod Aldridge, after he retired from the business he founded Capita.^[1] The Aldridge Foundation currently sponsors 8 academies or schools and educates students from primary to secondary to sixth form level across England. All of the schools are non - selective. Its is also a co-sponsor of two University Technical Colleges, which have university and employer lead sponsors.

Each school that the Aldridge Foundation sponsors is governed independently by its own charitable trust, or where there are 'clusters' of Aldridge family schools they are invited to join multi - academy trusts. The Aldridge North West Education Trust covers four Aldridge schools in Lancashire: Sudell Primary School, Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio School and Darwen Vale High School.

All of the Aldridge Foundation schools are regularly inspected by Ofsted.^[2] Alongside this, the Aldridge Foundation have also developed their own 'Quality Framework' which is used to support performance improvement.^[3]

In 2015 Darwen Aldridge Community Academy was named the Lancashire Telegraph's Secondary School of the Year ^[4] and one eleven schools from eleven countries across Europe which have won the Entrepreneurial School of the Year Award 2015, a national and European recognition of the best schools championing entrepreneurship education.^[5]

Schools

• Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (opened in 2008) ^[6]
• Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (opened in 2010) ^[7]
• Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (opened in 2011) ^[8]
• Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy (opened in 2012) ^[9]
• Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio School (opened in 2013) ^[10]
• Kensington Aldridge Academy (opened in 2014)^[11]
• Darwen Vale High School (sponsored by the Aldridge Foundation since December 2014) ^[12]
• Sudell Primary School (sponsored by the Aldridge Foundation since March 2015) ^[13]
• Aldridge Entrepreneurship School (currently under development) ^[14]

University Technical Colleges

• UTC@MediaCityUK (opened in September 2015)^[15]
• UTC@harbourside (opened in September 2015) ^[16]

References

1. Alison Benjamin. "Interview: Rod Aldridge". the Guardian.
2. "Ofsted says “good” – students say “fantastic”!". Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio.
3. "Educational approach". Aldridge Foundation.
4. "SECONDARY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR: School breaking down barriers for its pupils". Lancashire Telegraph.
5. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/13716039.Darwen_school_scoops_award_for_being_top_entrepreneurial_facility_in_Europe
6. "Darwen Aldridge Community Academy". Aldridge Foundation.
7. "Brighton Aldridge Community Academy". Aldridge Foundation.
8. "Portslade Aldridge Community Academy". Aldridge Foundation.
9. "Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy". Aldridge Foundation.
10. "Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio School". Aldridge Foundation.
11. "Kensington Aldridge Academy". Aldridge Foundation.
12. "Darwen Vale High School". Aldridge Foundation.
13. "Sudell Primary School". Aldridge Foundation.
14. "Aldridge Centre for Entrepreneurship". Aldridge Foundation.
15. "UTC@MediaCityUK". Aldridge Foundation.
16. "UTC@harbourside". Aldridge Foundation.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/can-instilling-a-sense-of-entrepreneurship-in-pupils-have-a-positive-effect-on-their-learning-9826864.html