The seminar was taking place in Naivasha, one and a half hours from Nairobi. We had little opportunities to discover Kenya but what we had the chance to see was extraordinary and eye opening. We visited a secondary school where we were extremely well received by the staff and pupils. Pupils danced and sang and then we planted trees together.

This experience was very much multi-cultural as I met representatives from different sub-Saharan countries. After a few work sessions, I settled a Partnership with two clusters in Tanzania and Zambia. I spent two days working with the representatives from Tanzania and Zambia and we built strong working relationships. We worked on the planning of the activities for the first year and on the budget for the 2010-2011 financial year. We are aiming at exchanging work in order to enrich our pupils learning and provide them with an insight of other cultures.

Different activities have been planned and all the faculties at the Academy should be contributing at some point to the partnership. Pupils will start by introducing themselves through letters but also videos of where they come from, they lives and cultures. Products, crafts will be created and sent to partners and sold at the market in the African countries and in the DART Gallery in Darwen in order to embed Entrepreneurship within the Partnership.

Pupils will also exchange views on forestation and training and coaching in sport activities.
At the Academy, pupils and staff are responding extremely well to the partnership. Already letters are being written by year 8 pupils and solar panels are going to be built by year 7 as part of the forestation project.

I am now looking forward to receiving some work from our partners and share it with our pupils.
This seminar was simply a wonderful experience and I truly hope that the partnership will have some successful learning experience for our community.

After several weeks of training in the technology faculty, good preparation meant that Team DACA were easily the best presented team with a strategy the earned them 3rd place following Darwen based K9 Spherical engineering and the WEC group. The students were a tribute and great ambassadors to both the Academy and the community.

All students were awarded bronze medals for the event in addition to achieving DACA badges for Team Work, Determination, Passion and Creativity.

"THE ENTHUSIASTIC APPROACH AND INSPIRATIONAL PRESENTATION OF JOHNNY BALL IS UNSURPASSABLE" - RADIO TIMES

Nearly fifty Academy students from years 8, 9 and 10 attended this conference.  It was organised by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in partnership with Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Darwen Vale High School, Lancashire Police and the Discover Mosque group.  The aim of the event was to improve understanding and communication between the white British and British Muslim communities in Darwen.  The event began with a computer voting session to gauge young people’s attitudes on a range of topics, including terrorism, the veil, arranged marriages, and whether the Muslim faith is compatible with British society.  Students then participated in a range of workshops to explore these topics further with the assistance of teachers and members of the Muslim community.  The voting session was then repeated with the same questions, and it was really interesting to see the positive change in responses, especially to the questions about whether the two communities can exist together.   The event then ended with a meal for all participants.

On Monday 12th April, a group of 17 DACA students joined students from King David High School in Manchester on a visit the Auschwitz Museum in Poland. They left the Academy at 3 a.m., and returned at 10.00 the same evening. The visit included a tour of the former concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau, and participation in the March of the Living between the two camps. Students kept a group diary of the visit, and the entries that they made show how deeply the experience affected them.

Claire Young, attended the event as a guest speaker to inspire up and coming female entrepreneurs from the area. Claire talked about her entrepreneurial journey, her experience on the Apprentice and her own personal experiences of making it in the world of business.
All proceeds of the event are donated to ‘Wear it Pink’ the breast cancer awareness charity.

On 12 May 2010, we were treated to a free cinema experience hosted by Filmclub in the Main Hall of the Academy. Students of all ages attended to watch ‘Coraline’, complete with bean bags and free popcorn and drinks. Afterwards, students registered on the Filmclub website and wrote film reviews with a chance to win a goodie bag. Fun was had by all and we hope to continue with more of the same in the future. Our plan, in the future, is to develop Filmclub into providing a community cinema service for the Darwen area as our closest cinema is in Blackburn.

£450k campaign launched to Inspire Communities

A new campaign to inspire youngsters in Darwen was launched at the town’s Library Theatre with musicians, speakers and even cheerleaders on hand to motivate the audience of students, parents and teachers.

Stand Out In Darwen aims to support young people in achieving their potential by drawing schools, community organisations, businesses, parents and the wider community to work together.

A partnership between Darwen Aldridge Academy (DACA), Blackburn with Darwen Community and Voluntary Service and Blackburn with Darwen Strategic Partnership, Stand Out In Darwen has secured £450,000 from the Inspiring Communities government grant programme.

The launch event was to inform parents and students of ways that they can get involved in Stand Out In Darwen and shaping the future of the town’s communities.

They were treated to a performance from DACA year 10 musicians and a demonstration from local cheerleading squad, Cheer Valley as well as an inspiring speech from local lad turned entrepreneur and voluntary worker Johnny Magee.

Jude Smith is co-ordinating Stand Out In Darwen at DACA. She said: “Darwen is one of just 15 neighbourhood partnerships across the country to have been awarded Inspiring Communities status.

“Darwen is a wonderful place to live and work, and that is the message we want to share with our young people.

“Opportunities exist here and we want to reiterate and reinforce this to our young people.”

Inspiring Communities follows a Government study by the social exclusion task force into the aspirations and achievements in deprived communities.

Unsurprisingly, the study showed that parents are the most important influence on young people’s aspirations.

However, the study also demonstrated that young people’s ambition is also significantly influenced by the people around them and the place they live.

Brendan Loughran, Principal at DACA said of the programme: “Stand Out In Darwen will provide inspiration, advice, guidance and connections – our young people can succeed with the right support.”

The first stage of the campaign, which begins in the coming weeks, will see Stand Out In Darwen splashed across the town; on posters, in shops, through leaflets and with an online portal to engage young people and their families.

The campaign will use role models who work, live and went to school in the town, to provide inspiration and advice.

Brendan added: “Local role models are key to this campaign – they are part of the fabric of the town and they are succeeding thanks to ambition, hard work and support.

“All our young people and their parents can see for themselves just what can be achieved.”

As the Stand Out In Darwen programme progresses, it will promote closer partnership working so that local organisations act as a team to offer better opportunities and support to Darwens communities allowing residents of the town get involved and take more responsibility for their futures.

A Darwen Central Neighbourhood Panel will be established to lead the programme, made up of members of the community and parents, and supported by Groundwork Pennine Lancashire and Bootstrap Enterprises.

For information of how you can get involved in Stand Out In Darwen or to register your interest in the programme please visit www.standoutindarwen.com

On March 30th 2010 , The Academy hosted Darwen’s annual talent contest ‘Search for a Star’.

Local primary schools were invited to host auditions and acts from Sudell, St James, Holy Trinity, and St Josephs along with Daca students took part in the grand finale held at Daca on Tuesday 30th March. Acts ranged from cheerleading to a comedian, dancing to singing.

18 acts in total took part in the final show, with 6 representatives from the Academy and the remainder from the Primary Schools. The judging panel consisted of Blackburn with Darwen Youth MP, Shabaz, Local Folk singer, Natasha Lee Jones and our very own Simon Cowell, Mr. Loughran! However, it was the down to the power of the people to decide the winning acts, as every member of the audience was allocated an interactive voting keypad to vote for their favourite.

From the two categories, primary and secondary, dance troupe Twist of Sudell Primary School and Daca 6th form dancers Fierce won the hearts of the 300-strong crowd. Both acts won the opportunity to perform at this years Darwen Live festival, over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend.

This is the second year running for this well supported project which also raises money for local charities from the proceeds of ticket sales.

On 23 April 2010, Joseph Delaney, a local author, came to visit the Academy to address the Year 7 students. He was entertaining and explained how he was inspired to write The Spooks Series, which are set in locations based on real places in Lancashire. The inspiration behind the stories came from local ghost stories and legends. He explained that he was influenced by the idea of conflict between good and evil as nobody is totally good or totally evil and he has tried to build that into his books. When asked how he came up with the title of ‘The Spook’s Apprentice’, he replied that, “The Spook deals with spooky things (ghosts, boggarts, witches and things that go bump in the night) but is also a bit spooky himself.”

His advice for young unpublished writers (entrepreneurs) was “to keep a notebook and jot down any idea that comes into your head. One day it may prove useful. Also, the more you read, the better you get at writing so read widely.”
We enjoyed his talk and look forward to welcoming Joseph Delaney back in the future for creative writing workshops and further discussions on his books.

MOVEMBER 

The Mo (slang for moustache) and Movember, the eleventh month of the year (formerly known as November), come together each year to create the world's largest movember for men's health. The aim is to bring much needed awareness and funding to men's health and specifically The Prostate Cancer Charity. The Movember Foundation challenges men to start Movember  (November 1st) clean shaven, then grow and groom their moustache for 30 days to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for prostate cancer. Sixteen staff and Sixth Formers signed up and over the course of the month (aided by many Mo Sistas) raised over £800. Moustaches of all styles and colours were carefully groomed for 30 days. The Great Shave Off took place on the final day of Movember, and a local barber and a Barber Shop quartet aided the removal of the Mos, much to the delight of the students.

Darwen was rigorously selected from 64 eligible local authority areas to participate in the joint initiative run by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Cabinet Office. The news was welcomed by all parties, who worked hard to deliver an innovative and engaging bid that evidenced the benefits such funding could bring to the young people of Darwen.

The Inspiring Communities project in Darwen will be spearheaded by DACA and the Campaign Leader is Academy Principal, Brendan Loughran. DACA is one of only a handful of Academies to have secured the funding, demonstrating that Academies can integrate into and contribute to the future well-being of local communities.

The Darwen bid, which also involved a youth consultation exercise, was presented to the Darwen and Rural Area Neighbourhood Board by DACA’s Principal and Vice Principal of Entrepreneurship. Each bid had to meet strict criteria and the Secretary of State for Communities John Denham, who reviewed the Blackburn with Darwen bid was particularly impressed with its strong enterprise focus which was bolstered by the Academy’s entrepreneurship specialism.

Other local organisations will also be getting involved as the project evolves over the coming months.

Nationally, 15 neighbourhood partnerships – consisting of a local authority, a secondary school and a third sector organisation – will each benefit from £450,000 core funding which will be awarded over the next two years. This announcement comes as Alan Milburn’s report, released on 21^st July, calls for action to enable everybody, whatever their background, to fulfill their talent and potential.

Inspiring Communities follows on from a government study into aspirations and attainment in deprived communities which showed that while parents are the most important influence on young people, the people and places where they live also affect their aspirations.  It asks schools, local agencies, community organisations, businesses, parents and the wider community to work together to get behind local young people and support them to fulfill their educational potential.

Focused primarily on improving outcomes for 11 to 14 year olds, the national programme is aimed at neighbourhoods where low aspirations have been identified as a barrier to young people achieving their potential. It will work specifically with young people, their parents and communities to create new opportunities, raise aspirations and educational development, as well build the self-confidence of local people.

Commenting on the news, Brendan Loughran says: “This funding will open so many new doors for the young people of Darwen and everyone involved is delighted to be a part of such an innovative scheme.  It will grant individuals access to resources that would otherwise not be available, and we relish the challenges ahead and look forward to seeing our ideas come to fruition in the local area.”

Mike Lee, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, adds: "This is a fantastic achievement and the vast number of activities included in the programme will make a huge difference to the lives of our young people. Many suffer from low aspiration and are not achieving their true potential. The programme will help them unlock their talents so they can overcome any barrier put before them. It is also about raising the aspirations of the parents who may not have been given such opportunities so they encourage and support their children to make the most of the opportunities which will now come their way."

Rod Aldridge, Chair of the Aldridge Foundation and DACA sponsor, says: “It has been our ambition to see the Academy working in partnership with local people, voluntary organisations and the local authority to raise the aspirations and abilities of young people and the community.

“This funding will enhance the Academy’s ability to reach out beyond the classroom, draw in local people and community groups and instil an entrepreneurial mindset to inspire and regenerate the whole community.”

In March, the Academy staged it’s very own Britain’s Got Talent style competition ‘Search For A Star’.

The winners were singer-songwriter David Nairn – a Year 9 student at the Academy, and street dancer Jolie-Jade Billington, aged seven, from Holy Trinity C of E Primary School.  As part of their prize, the pair were invited to perform at Darwen Live 2009, the town’s annual three-day Bank Holiday music festival. 

Both students were featured in live radio interviews with local radio station 107 The Bee during the festival weekend, and Mr. Taylor caught up with David Nairn to find out more.

David – How did it feel to win ‘Search For A Star’?

“It was an amazing feeling and a brilliant night.  It was a very special feeling when I heard my name.  It’s the first time I’ve ever entered anything like this, so I’m proud to have come first.”

How was Darwen Live?

“I had been looking forward to performing and was anxious to get on stage.  It was by far the biggest audience I’ve played in front of.  My Mum and Dad were both there, as well as what looked like the whole of Year 9!”

How long have you been playing for?

“My Dad started teaching me the guitar when I was six and I started singing when I was nine.  I wrote my first song when I was eleven.  When I’m bored. I’ll grab a pen and paper and jot down some lyrics and the songs usually build from there.”

How has the Academy helped you?

Everyone’s been brilliant.  My music teacher, Mr. Turner, has been really helpful.  We’ve recorded some of our music in lessons and we have all the things we need at the Academy.

What are your plans for the future?

I’d love to keep on singing and make a career of it if possible.  I’d like to join a band one day so we can share ideas and make some really good music.

One of Darwen’s famous old landmarks is to become a thriving community art business, operated and managed by entrepreneurial students of the Academy.   The former tram-stop and listed building at Darwen Circus will become the ‘Off The Rails’ gallery, displaying and selling student artwork and hand-made goods such as jewellery and sculptures.  

During the summer months, the building will receive a major facelift to transform it into a fully operating student-run business, where Academy students will have a genuine opportunity to put their entrepreneurial skills into practice.    This is all thanks to some opportunist work from a group of eight Year 10 and 11 Academy students and staff who were involved in submitting a £35,000 bid for LEGI (Local Enterprise Growth Initiative) funding. 

Following an interview before a panel of judges, the students were instrumental in securing the funding which will now be used to convert the disused building.   Students will host a different art exhibition each month and a commission from all goods sold will be reinvested into the business to ensure it is sustainable.  

Year 10 student, Gemma Tomlinson, said “I am really passionate about art, so to have the opportunity to get involved in this project is great.  I am looking forward to working with the other students to bring our new business to life. When we are working in the shop and managing our new business we will be able to take what we have learnt in entrepreneurship classes and put it in practice.”

On Thursday the 11th of May, 97 students and staff celebrated Year 11, with a glitzy ballroom prom held at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa in Accrington.   Guests began to arrive in their limousines from 6:30pm, in preparation for their sit-down meal.     The three course feast was followed by a DJ, who laid down dance and R&B tracks, keeping the dance-floor locked-up for the remainder of the night. 

The students also showcased their Waltz and Jive dancing skills, which they have developed via the Essentially Dance programme.    A huge thank you must go to Mrs. Sharples and Mr. Wilton, who put their efforts into arranging the evening and also to the I.T Team & Mr. Fallaize, who produced a free senior year souvenir DVD of the evening.

A Darwen Aldridge student could well be on the way to igniting British Olympic hopes after his lightning pace caught the eye in front of the boroughs finest athletes.

Year 11 student, Victor Kasota recorded a 100 metre sprint in just 11.7 seconds during town team trials held on the 30th of April.  The achievement was all-the-more impressive given that Victor was competing without running spikes and in adverse weather conditions.

Victor’s talents were spotted by P.E. staff picking up on his phenomenal pace even upon the slow grass surface of the Academy.  Miss Coy commented “With the correct support, diet, conditioning and training, Victor has the potential to break the 10 second barrier.”

In the first heat, Victor actually stumbled at the start gun, but still found the pace to recover and win the race!  By the time he was invited to join the Blackburn Harriers athletics club at the end of the day, Victor had already competed against and beaten current county record holders.

Victor is now working closely with Blackburn Harriers to improve his training and enhance technique and commented “Watch out Usain Bolt…I’m coming to get you!”

Ten students from Year Ten were among the first in the country to get a sneak preview of Tunnel 228, the eagerly anticipated art exhibition produced by Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic Theatre, set in the vaults beneath London’s Waterloo Station.

Following academy sponsor Rod Aldridge’s support of the project through The Old Vic Theatre, our students were given the chance to observe the unique project before meeting the Hollywood actor himself!

DACA student Brad Harper commented: “From the train journey down onwards, it was a brilliant day out. Even the weather was good! We saw the sights of South London and the exhibition was ace. It was pretty spooky under Waterloo, but I’d definitely want to go again.”  Katie Duerden added: “The sculptures were totally different from what I expected and the old underground tunnel was the perfect setting.  My Mum was really impressed when I told her we had met Kevin Spacey!”

Local primary schools were invited to host auditions and acts from Sudell, St James, St Barnabas, Holy Trinity, Ashleigh and St Paul’s were awarded placed in the final. The grand finale was packed full of talented acts from Bollywood dancers to martial arts experts and rock bands to street dancers. 

28 acts in total took part in the final show, with 10 representatives from the Academy and the remainder from the Primary Schools. The judging panel consisted of 107 The Bee FM’s Simon Brierley, Blackburn with Darwen Youth MP, Minhaz Khelya and our very own Simon Cowell, Mr. Loughran!  However, it was the down to the power of the people to decide the winning acts, as  every member of the audience was allocated an interactive voting keypad to vote for their favourite.

From the two categories, guitarist and singer David Nairn was the Academy winner, who wrote and composed his own song.  Funky street-dancer Jolie-Jade Billington of Holy Trinity won the hearts of the 300-strong crowd, to net the primary school prize.   Both acts won the opportunity to perform at this years Darwen Live festival, over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend.  

Art students showcased their talents in an open exhibition on Thursday 21st May featuring an impressive collection of inspiring artistic creations, from paintings to sculptures. The DACA Year 11 art students put together a unique and professional exhibition, featuring the very best of their work from the last two years, which all counted towards their final GCSE qualifications.

The work displayed was created in-line with a number of thought-provoking themes including, Racism in the American Culture, Auschwitz, Africa, Life Support and Marriage. Among the unique pieces on show were a range of self-portrait, 3D work and sculptures. The free-of-charge exhibition also presented the opportunity for the artistic students to utilise their entrepreneurial skills as, in true art gallery style, they were given the opportunity to sell any work they chose to members of the public.   

Mr. Loughran said: “We have some incredibly talented young artists here at DACA and have been astounded by the standard of work our Year 11’s have produced. All students involved have worked very hard in preparation for their Art GCSE and I would like to congratulate them on the inspiring pieces they have created.”

On the 25th February 2009, 7 students travelled first class to London to meet Rod Aldridge, in recognition of achieving the highest DAKA points in their respective year groups.  Our Head Girl and Head Boy also travelled to London to accompany the students in visiting the Houses of Parliament and to take a trip on the London Eye.

Year 9 student Megan Dawson, commentated. “Travelling down to London by train and then hopping on the tube to meet Mr Aldridge was really exciting”.

James Eastham, Head Lead student said meeting Janet Anderson MP at the Houses of Parliament was a real privilege.

Students attending the trip included, Hazel Wignall, Jack Llewellyn, Lauren Berresford, James Eastham, Megan Dawson, Sally Varey, Carly Brown and Ben Garvin.

Darwen's Neighbourhood Board

Congratulations to Liam Dargon, Luke Heyes and Georgina Grice who successfully presented at Darwen’s Neighbourhood Board to obtain funding for Darwen’s first Search for a Star Event. Auditions are currently being held across primary schools in Darwen to search for a new rising talent with that all important X-factor.

The funding received will pay for an interactive voting system so that the audience can decide the ultimate winner of the event. Primary schools can also take part in a number of entrepreneurship activities in the run up to the event including, design a ticket, t-shirt and applying for a job on the night. Tickets will be available soon!

2009 got off to a sporting start for the Academy and January saw DACA truly embrace its second specialism of sport; introducing a brand new pilot scheme called Essentially Dance. The programme, which aims to encourage young people to engage in a new form of physical activity, follows on from the success of Strictly Come Dancing, offering a unique opportunity for students to learn ballroom and Latin American dance.

On 22nd January, DACA students visited The Lowry in Salford where they were joined by around 200 other students from primary feeder schools in Darwen to celebrate the launch of this new initiative which is being fronted by the stars of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova.

Darren and Lilia showed off their moves as they performed a dance from the new Essentially Dance programme. DACA students were then invited onto the dance floor to demonstrate their own dance moves before being given the chance to put their questions to the couple.

As one of only 30 UK schools chosen to pilot the programme, DACA’s attendance at the launch attracted a lot of media attention, with a reporter from BBC Northwest coming along to interview DACA students, Vice Principal Jade Parkinson-Hill and DACA sponsor Rod Aldridge. The Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Channel M and The Manchester Evening News also rushed down to the launch to catch a glimpse of the exciting new initiative.

They were challenged to turn their tenner into a larger sum. The initiative has given students the opportunity to help other people via enterprising activity and by investing their subsequent profits into a good cause. DACA students have shown real initiative and devised some inventive business ideas to rival Richard Branson! From car washing to cake making, the Academy has been buzzing with entrepreneurial spirit this month.

One resourceful year eight student, Oliver McHugh, utilised his contacts and managed to get his hands on a football signed by Manchester City Football Club and has been selling raffle tickets to raise money for Derian House, a childrens hospice in Clitheroe. Oliver said: “I got involved with the project as I wanted to see what I could do for charity and I also wanted to take part in a national enterprise competition and to put what I have learnt so far at DACA into practice. I am really grateful to everybody who has helped me so far, including my family, and I really hope the business is a success.” Make Your Mark with a Tenner is a national enterprise competition for 20,000 young people aged 19 and under in schools or via youth organisations. It is supported by NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts) and funded by entrepreneurs Peter Jones and Michael and Xochi Birch, the founders of social networking site Bebo.

This year prizes will be given to the individuals and teams which generate the biggest returns and which have the greatest social impact.

Celebrating the end of its first term, the Academy hosted an evening of festive fun with contributions from students across all years.

Kicking off with an entrepreneurial spirited Christmas fayre in aid of charities specially selected by the students.

With street dancing performances, cheerleading displays, a nativity and a pantomime, musical renditions of the Disney hit, High School Musical, not to mention the staff choir, the Academy’s pool of performing arts talent donned their dancing shoes and sang their hearts out as they took to the stage to entertain guests.

As part of the DACA entrepreneurship curriculum, and to demonstrate how well the new specialism had been adopted, students in years 7, 8 and 9 were given the opportunity to set up their very own innovative Christmas enterprises. Each tutor group was given £25 to invest in materials to help create new products and services, including festive mugs and jewellery, a gift wrapping service and the unique ‘Project Candy Cane’ which allowed students to secretly communicate with each other via wrapped candy canes that carried special messages. All products and services were sold on the night and proceeds were donated to the designated charities.