Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge And Prince Harry Open The Global Academy

20 April 2017, 11:40

In Support of the campaign Heads Together, Global is running a special day of programmes across its stations including LBC, Heart and Capital, to encourage people across the country to talk about mental wellbeing.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will officially open The Global Academy in support of Heads Together today. 

They met students training to be the next generation of production staff, as Global stations LBC, Heart and Capital broadcast shows from the Academy. The shows each had a mental wellbeing theme, helping to generate conversation with the Heads Together campaign in honour of the visit.

Read More: Find Out More About Heads Together

Read more: All You Need To Know About The Global Academy

Heads Together is spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry, in partnership with eight leading mental wellbeing charities that are tackling stigma, raising awareness, and providing vital help for people with mental health challenges. They are highlighting the power of conversations, how being able to talk openly about mental wellbeing, can be life-changing.

The Global Academy is a state school founded and supported by Global, The Media And Entertainment Group, designed to prepare students for careers in the broadcast and digital media industry, offering academic and vocational training.

Ashley Tabor, Global’s Founder And 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 to 19-year-old students. By 2020, the Global Academy will reach its full capacity of 800 students.

Students at the Global Academy work towards GCSE and A Level qualifications and learn the hands-on skills to apply for jobs in the 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.

The newly built school is on the site of the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes in West London which was once the EMI Music headquarters and now houses a rich archive of vinyl and broadcasting equipment. The new four-storey purpose built school building has state-of-the-art TV and radio studios, flexible teaching spaces, informal learning zones, a dining area, a sports hall and a theatre.

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. 50% of places in Year 10 are for students living in the local catchment area (within a five-mile radius) and 50% for students from across the UK.

The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry will each visit the Heart Breakfast Show and LBC's Nick Ferrari Show – to see the programme in action and meet students helping to produce the material.

They will each visit a classroom, where pupils are learning about the science of sound, the student radio station where pupils are working on a mental wellbeing project, and an audio project listening to EMI’s vinyl recording of early speeches of the Royal Family.

They will also join a roundtable discussion with Global presenters, LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Heart’s Jamie Theakston AND Emma Bunton and Capital’s Roman Kemp, as well as students and Heads Together runners, talking about the importance of having a conversation about mental wellbeing. The visit will end with an assembly, where they will officially open the Global Academy.

Through this campaign, Their Royal Highnesses are keen to build on the great work that is already taking place across the country, to ensure that people feel comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing, feel able to support their friends and families through difficult times, and that stigma no longer prevents people getting help they need.

Please visit www.headstogether.org.uk/ for further information.

For more information on the Global Academy, visit www.globalacademy.com.