It is important for local academies to feel secure in the knowledge that should they have areas of concern however small they can turn to their Regional Academy / Academy Support Centre (ASC) for help; this is the case with GRA. Having been a regional Academy since 1998 our support team has a great deal of experience in effectively supporting a wide range of academies and meeting their needs both within the UK and further afield.

Support for academies is paramount and offered through a variety of methods: regular visits, email, an annual conference, the use of Skype, Messenger, Newletters and Webinars all have a role in ensuring information gets to our consortia members, keeping you up to date on all developments!

• The use of technology to enable all consortia members to attend virtual meetings, a termly WebEx meeting reducing the need for travel, but increasing the ability for all to attend these meetings, irrespective of locality at a pre-arranged date and time, key sessions can be recorded and accessed at a later date.  The aim being to add to the closeness and co-operation between consortia members leading to better informed and more effective academy partners. 
• In addition to the main office phone number which can be used during normal office hours, there is 24/7 access to a mobile phone number should the issue for discussion need to be addressed outside office times.  
• By way of an email query there is a guaranteed response within one business day of the query, some solutions will take more than that but an initial response is guaranteed.
• Termly Newsletter addressing developments and other related topics will be issued electronically to consortia members.
• In-Person visits one during the autumn term with instructors and a second visit at a convenient time within the spring and summer term to meet instructors and students.
• Virtual meeting with academy staff as requested.
• Series of Informational Webinars to address the issues of Academy Evolution and the new methodologies, tools and resources will take place throughout the Summer and Autumn Terms of 2012 for all consortia members and thereafter ona  termly basis.
• On-going instructor support for newly trained instructors from the Instructor Training Centre (ITC) after they have completed their training, after which time this will be adopted by the ASC.

What about the students? It is our aim to undertake an annual event for students from all consortia members.  This free event will not only add to their technical knowledge but also look towards the future and what they will be doing on graduating from their academy.  Key partners will be invited to attend with a view to advice regarding effective CV construction and employment opportunities, with this very much in mind we have started work with a partner interested in receiving CVs from graduating students throughout our consortium with a view to helping them gain meaningful employment and using their IT and interpersonal skills.

As an instructor, do you have a particular skill, interest or gift withi a particular area?  If so would you be intersted in delivering this to a group for students by way of WebEx, get your message out to a wider audience.  This can be recorded and available to all our students across the consortia and accessible by them 24/7 to aid their understanding and knowledge?

Workshop Group

With a view to extend the level of support GRA initiated a working group (2010) which will concentrate on developing the expertise if academies undertaking the delivery of the CCNA courses through Edexcel BTEC Nationals.  The aim being to develop suitable assessment strategies that will maximise the student's efforts and permit cross module assessment being possible.  Due to the widespread spread of the academies these workshops will employ WebEx to increase effectiveness and reduce the carbon footprint which would be caused by the workshop being hosted at a specific location.  This work can be recorded and referred to at a later date to improve the level of co-operation and the benefit of all consortia members.