The Birmingham City Foundation is proud to announce its first flagship partnership, as King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy becomes the inaugural Academy School.
King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy in Frankley has long standing links with the Club, with coaches currently operating in the school to deliver four hours of football and mentoring per week. Phase one of the new partnership will see this increase to two coaches working 40 hours per week during school hours, exclusively in the school.
Phase two, planned for Q1 of 2024, will see Birmingham City Foundation engage with the wider Frankley community as well as those in education. The coaches will adjust their hours, working in the school between 12pm and 9pm, continuing to offer daily support to pupils, and then utilising the facilities at King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy to offer a variety of programmes in the evening, including football-for-all, healthy living and nutrition classes, mental health workshops and more for all who need it.
The Birmingham City Foundation is committed to delivering better opportunities for people, through the lens of football. The power of the Birmingham City badge on the Foundation coaches’ chests has the ability to unite and inspire, often in ways that authority figures are not able to.
The model being introduced at King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy relies on the influence the Blues crest brings and the Birmingham City Foundation will seek to roll this out across other partner schools throughout 2024 and beyond.
Commenting on the partnership, Headteacher of King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy Damian McGarvey said: “Birmingham City Football Club is a pillar of this city, and we believe that working with the Club we can achieve something bigger by doing it together.
“We have seen the impact the coaches have in our school with them being here for just four hours a week, and we have witnessed the success in our internal metrics and data. We are excited to see where this could take us as not just a school, but as an anchor for the whole community.”
