Prince Charles opens new £22m JCB Academy

THE £22m JCB Academy in Staffordshire has been officially opened by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

The Royal couple visited the facility in Mill Street, Rocester where they met staff, students and supporters who have contributed to the success of new teaching facility.

Prince Charles was accompanied by JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford and JCB Academy Principal Jim Wade on a tour of the college, where he met and spoke to students about their work.

He was also given an insight into the academy’s strong focus on energy efficiency and saw first-hand an Archimedes Screw which has been installed and which generates around 80% of the power for the site.  

The Royal couple later unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the building during which the Prince was presented with a scale model of the Archimedes Screw.

Sir Anthony said: “Over 200 years after Arkwright invented the spinning frame, his mill in Rocester is now home to a transformation – a revolution, some might say – in how our young people are educated.

“Our hope is that the engineers and business leaders of the future – that our country so desperately needs to rebalance our economy – will pass through the doors of this historic building.  As a nation that seems to have fallen out of love with manufacturing, I look upon The JCB Academy as a rebirth – or at least the beginnings of a rebirth – in technical education.”

The engineering tasks completed by pupils have been set by the academy’s partners who include JCB, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Network Rail, Bentley, Bombardier, Rexroth Bosch Group, National Grid, Zytek Automotive, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IET, Harper Adams University College, The Royal Academy of Engineering and Parker Vansco. The pupils complete their engineering tasks alongside maths, English, science and German.