The Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge Officially Open The Global Academy
20 April 2017, 12:09
Today the members of the Royal family opened the new academy today as part of their capacity of Heads Together.
The Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge and Prince Harry officially opened The Global Academy in support of Heads Together.
The Royals met students, who are training to be the next generation of production staff, as Global radio stations including Capital, LBC, and Heart, broadcast live shows from the Academy encouraging people across the UK to talk about mental health.
The visit started with a trip to our sister station Heart's production office.
The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry take a look around the @thisisheart production studio at this morning's #RoyalOpening pic.twitter.com/zpJKerhYR0
— Global (@global) April 20, 2017
Then Prince Harry passed through one of the science rooms at the academy, where they learned about audio.
Prince Harry currently in one of the Science Hubs here at @TheGAcademy. This morning students are learning how radio waves are transmitted pic.twitter.com/bd8gcvwoS5
— Global (@global) April 20, 2017
The Duke Of Cambridge took a visit to one of the media classrooms, where students were preparing a project called 'Early Speeches Of The Royal Family'.
The Duke in one of @TheGAcademy's media hubs, students are aptly working on an audio project titled 'Early speeches of the Royal Family' pic.twitter.com/2l0uW4cg7P
— Global (@global) April 20, 2017
They were then joined by Global presenters Roman Kemp, Jamie Theakston, Emma Bunton and Nick Ferrari to discuss the importance of talking about mental health.
TRH discuss with @TheGAcademy students and @NickFerrariLBC @JamieTheakston @EmmaBunton @romankemp the importance of talking #MentalHealth pic.twitter.com/yhy7HnFVZ9
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 20, 2017
Heads Together is spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry, in partnership with eight leading mental health charities.
The campaign is highlighting the power of conversations and how being able to talk openly about mental health challenges can be life changing.
.@LondonMarathon @heads_together The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will officially open @thegacademy in support of #HeadsTogether
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 10, 2017
The Global Academy is a state school, founded and sponsored by Global, to prepare students for careers in the broadcast and digital media industry, offering academic and vocational training.
Ashley Tabor, Global’s Founder & Executive President, came up with the idea of the Global Academy to tackle the skills shortage and lack of diversity across the industry.
As well as giving young people a route into the media industry, the Global Academy gives students the practical and technical skills they need to succeed in the real world.
This includes encouraging young people to talk about any mental wellbeing issues they may be facing, with an hour of mental wellbeing on the curriculum every week, recognising the issue and removing the stigma sometimes associated with it.
The state school is a university technical college for 14-19-year-old students.
By 2020 the Global Academy will reach its full capacity of 800 students. In 2016, we had our first intake of 163 students – 96 in Year 10 and 67 in Year 12.
As well as working towards GCSE or A Level qualifications, Global Academy students learn the hands-on skills needed to work in the broadcast and digital media industry, working towards Ofqual-approved diplomas in broadcast and digital media from the Global Academy’s university sponsor, University of the Arts London, and other awarding bodies.
Students learn the skills to apply for jobs in radio and TV production, web and app development, script writing, broadcast journalism, broadcast engineering, event management, marketing and more.
The vocational syllabus has been developed in conjunction with industry partners to ensure students leave the Global Academy ready for real jobs.
The Global Academy is free to attend and students come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Fifty per cent of places in year 10 are for students living in the local catchment area (within a five-mile radius) and fifty per cent for students from across the UK.
As well as giving young people a route into the media industry, the Global Academy gives students the practical and technical skills they need to succeed in the real world.
This includes encouraging young people to talk about any mental wellbeing issues they may be facing, with an hour of mental wellbeing on the curriculum every week, recognising the issue and removing the stigma sometimes associated with it.
Get closer to the action at the official grand opening by following Heads Together on Snapchat!
Scan the QR code below or add them via the username 'HeadsTogether'.
