Student Garden Community Action Day

On Friday 23 October BACA organised a Student Garden Community Action Day, inviting staff, students, parents and community volunteers to help us redevelop a space at the back of the academy building for students to grow fresh food.

BACA previously had a space but had to move it to accommodate a temporary building for the Bilingual Primary School.  This temporary building will be in place until Easter, so help was needed to reestablish a new growing space so BACA students do not miss out in the meanwhile.

Help was on hand form Lloyds Banking Group who sent a team of six volunteers for the day and a handful of parent alongside Pat Beach from the Moulsecoomb Forest and Wildlife Garden Project. With approx. 50 BACA year 7 and 8 students involved in the day and our able volunteers and skilled BACA staff (thanks Simon), we managed to clear a large area, weed, repair, move and refill six raised beds and build two new beds from scratch.

Meanwhile year 7 students worked with Carly North from Trailer Trashed to prepare a fine feast for our volunteers, demonstrating just what will be possible once we have grown our own fresh vegetables.

Our next stage is to establish an after school gardening club for students who are particularly keen in growing.  We also have plans to add a large garden shed and outdoor classroom space to develop the area further and make it a place where learning can happen regularly.

Once the temporary Bilingual building has been removed, we will be able to increase the amount of raised beds so more students can take part and grow fresh food. We plan to carry out future action days each season so if you would like to gt involved then please get in touch.

BACA Call for help – community action day to create garden space

We are organising a Student Garden Community Action Day, inviting staff, students and their families and the wider community to help us develop a space at the back of the academy building for students to grow fresh food. We previously had a space but had to move it to accommodate a temporary building for the Bilingual Primary School.  This temporary building will be in place until Easter, so we need help to reestablish a new growing space so our students do not miss out in the meanwhile.

Once the garden is back in place we will establish an after school gardening club for those who are particularly keen in growing.  Once the temporary Bilingual building has been removed, we will be able to develop the space further and increase the amount of raised beds so more students can take part and grow fresh food.

Do you know anyone who wold be willing and able to volunteer some time on Friday 23 October to work with us to clear an area and create a series of new raised beds.  We anticipate the day to be quite physical so anyone thinking about volunteering should consider their health first. Those who are able to join us for the whole day will be rewarded with a hot lunch! Please get in contact if you would like to be involved or would like any further information.

Alumni Help Mark the Start of New Future

Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Time Capsule being buried by the new Cricket Centre which is under construction
Alumni from left Lynn Wickens , John Willis and Carol Harding
Please Credit – Simon Dack / Vervate
http://www.vervate.com
tel 07973677017

On Monday 28^th September members of our Alumni joined students, staff and community members at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) to mark the beginning of construction of the new cricket centre with the burying of a time capsule.

The time capsule contained Aldridge Cricket Academy (ACA) memorabilia, along with memories of growing up in the local area. These reminiscent were collected from Alumni members and local residents in spring 2015 by BACA’s year 7 oral historians as part of the ‘History on your Doorstep’ project page

The Cricket Centre at BACA will be a new addition to the Academy’s state-of-the-art sports facilities. Construction of the centre has just begun and is due to be completed in spring 2016.

 “Our specialism in sport is used to raise standards both on and off the playing fields. The Cricket Centre will help improve student’s health and wellbeing, develop sporting abilities and enable students to excel at a high level of sport.  Along with benefiting our students, we look forward to the facilities becoming a vital resource for the wider community and our local primary schools.” BACA Principal Dylan Davies

The centre will be home to the Aldridge Cricket Academy, a unique partnership between Brighton and Portslade Aldridge Community Academies and the Sussex Cricket Board, supported by Sussex County Cricket Club, which enables Sixth Form students study for academic qualifications alongside professional cricket development. The Centre will provide students with dedicated training and playing facilities, promoting sporting excellence, enabling local students to develop cricketing talent and promoting and helping to maintain fitness.

This specialist, sector-leading cricket centre will provide:

• three lanes of indoor cricket nets with full run ups
• full service gym for strength and conditioning
• cricket square

 “The Aldridge Cricket Academy is all about giving local students, both boys and girls, the same kinds of opportunities that students in fee paying schools generally have, but which are rare for players attending state schools. It was still the case at the end of this summer that the majority players in the England test team have gone through independent schools to get there. I hope it won’t be long before we see an Aldridge student playing for Sussex and hopefully one day England.” Sir Rod Aldridge, Academy Sponsor.

Thank you again to all Alumni members who contributed to the content of the time capsule.