Leading the way in innovative "vocational education" in education
GRA has been a successful Cisco Regional Academy since December 1998, being the first regional academy to be located within the school sector. GRA amalgamated with two other regional academies: Leigh Technology Academy and Carmel RC Technology College in order to offer the highest quality of service to our consortia members over a broad area within the UK.
We provide training and support to meet the needs of our educational clients, encouraging effective delivery of the academy programme to its 60 + schools, colleges and universities. Once trained, the staff are equipped to use the material and deliver a range of internationally recognised courses backed by QCF, LSC, ELWA and DCSF, which will provide "Attainment Table" points, UCAS points and funding for the institution.
GRA has been used as a reference point for over ten years as an example of good practice by Cisco and VMware, who refer other potential academies to GRA for initial contact and guidance. The growth of GRA has been fully supported by World Leading companies, as we are known to give the highest level of support and the training required by the local academies. Further to this members of the GRA team have acted as consultants for other regionals to help enhance their performance.
GRA staff have worked with and represented Cisco at a number of UK based events, and spoken at a number of international conferences including; Paris, Copenhagen, Dubai, Johannesburg, San Diego and Sofia. In 2002 J.S. O'Neill MSc was recognised by Cisco for his contribution to the Academy Program by being named the recipient of Instructor of the Year. This prestigious International award is given to instructors who demonstrate a strong commitment to the program and its growth and devleopment. 
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Instructor Training
Due to the extensive relationships with some of the world’s leading IT companies GRA is in a position to deliver technical training in Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco and VMware to IT professional staff at the Dartford training centre, and assist with the adoption of any vendor Academy Programme. In conjunction with our partner "Women in IT" we are also able to offer training at City Point in central London. In addition Cisco Academy and VMware Instructor Training has been offered at a number of venues such as Croesyceiliog, Darlington, Milton Kenyes, Newcastle upon Tyne and Wokingham within the UK and Budapest, Hungary. Our staff have also undertaken training for a Soweto academy.
Instructor training is delivered through “in person” courses, blended remote delivery or a small amount of “in person” guidance, dependant upon the suitability of the course content to be delivered effectively in each of these various formats. The development of practical skills is vital to the Cisco programme, delegates will gain “hands on experience” with routers and switches at the venue. Learning is also supported by the use of NetLab which enables 24/7 remote access to router and switch labs designed to offer more challenging lab topologies.
Support for local academies
It is important for local academies to feel secure in the knowledge that should they have areas of concern they can turn to their regional academy for help. Support for academies is by way of termly visits, an annual conference, email, Skype, Messenger and phone.
In terms of support Cisco have within their QA documentation certain requirements in terms of access to the regional and the number of visits and Quality Assurance visits / reports made. GRA exceeds the normal requirements and consequently visits are made prior to signing up, assistance in setting up, within a month of start of delivery, two further visits a year and a bi- annual QA visit. The local academy can call upon additional support as required in order to meet specific needs. In addition there is 24/7 access to mobile phone, Skype, MSN and Internet based phone support, with email support and a guaranteed response within one business day.
Lastly an annual conference is offered which addresses issues specific to the present developments taking place within the academy programme, enhancing networking, with the last two being held at Bedfont Lakes and Frimley, along with numerous WebEx conferences to ease the need for travel.