Arena Academy
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Arena Academy
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| motto =
| established =
| closed =
| type = Academy
| admissions =
| trust = CORE Education Trust
| religious_affiliation =
| r_head_label = Headteacher
| r_head = Raj Mann
| chair_label =
| chair =
| medium =
| address = Beeches Road
| location = Perry Beeches
| city = Birmingham
| district =
| postcode = B42 2PY
| county = West Midlands
| country = England
| local_authority = Birmingham City Council
| urn = 145580
| ofsted = yes
| staff =
| capacity =
| gender = Coeducational
| lower_age = 11
| upper_age = 16
| houses =
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| free_label_1 =
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| website = https://www.corearena.academy/
}}
Arena Academy, formally known as the Perry Beeches Academy, is a coeducational secondary school located in the Perry Beeches area of Birmingham in the West Midlands of England.{{cite web|url=http://www.perrybs.bham.sch.uk/|title=Perry Beeches The Academy -}}
Previously a community school administered by Birmingham City Council, Perry Beeches School converted to academy status on 3 May 2012 and was renamed Perry Beeches The Academy. It has since been renamed a third time to Arena Academy.
The school offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils.{{cite web|url=http://www.perrybs.bham.sch.uk/curriculum-information/|title=Curriculum Information - Perry Beeches The Academy}}
Financial Mismanagement Scandal
While it was known as Perry Beeches Academy, the school was the leader of the Perry Beeches Trust, a multi-academy trust formed of the Academy and four other Perry Beeches academies in the area. Together, the schools offered a combined sixth form provision.{{cite web|url=http://www.pbat.co.uk/|title=Perry Beeches Academy Trust -}}
In March 2016 the Education Funding Agency published a critical report on the financial management and governance of the Trust. The report showed that the chief executive of the Trust, Liam Nolan, was being paid by sub-contractors as well as by the Trust. In addition more than £2.5 million of free school meal funding could not be checked because financial records had been deleted, that £1.3 million had been paid to a sub-contractor without a written contract or after a formal procurement exercise, and there was not effective oversight by trustees.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/28/perry-beeches-academy-chain-stripped-schools-critical-finance-report |title=Lauded academy chain to be stripped of schools after finances inquiry |author=Richard Adams |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/perry-beeches-trust-condemned-paying-11094017 |title=Perry Beeches Trust condemned for 'paying superhead Liam Nolan a £160,000 second salary' |author=Jonathan Walker |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=24 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016}}{{cite report |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510509/Financial_management_and_governance_review_Perry_Beeches_The_Academy_Trust.pdf |title=Financial management and governance review: Perry Beeches The Academy Trust |publisher=Education Funding Agency |date=October 2015 |access-date=28 March 2016}} In April 2016 the Education Funding Agency started investigating additional allegations.{{cite news |url=http://schoolsweek.co.uk/perry-beeches-saga-who-was-involved/ |title=Perry Beeches saga: who was involved |author=John Dickens |newspaper=Schools Week |date=15 April 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/funding-watchdog-launches-new-inquiry-11192999 |title=Funding watchdog launches new inquiry into fresh allegations about Perry Beeches school chain |author=Jonathan Walker |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016}}
In May 2016 it was announced that the chief executive of the trust, Liam Nolan had resigned, as well as the trust's entire governing board. The five academies and free schools that were formerly part of the trust were then administered directly by the Department for Education until a new sponsor could be found for the schools.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/10/perry-beeches-academy-trust-lauded-by-cameron-falls-apart-executive-head-quits|title=Academy trust lauded by Cameron falls apart as executive head quits|author=Richard Adams|work=The Guardian|date=10 May 2016 |access-date=11 May 2016}} The trust had a debt of £2.1 million, and was running at a significant deficit.{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/liam-nolan-quits-perry-beeches-11315244 |title=Liam Nolan quits Perry Beeches academy chain following damning financial report |author=James Cartledge |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=11 May 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-37590444 |title=Deficit of £2.1m found at Perry Beeches The Academy Trust |work=BBC News |date=10 October 2016 |access-date=24 June 2017}}
Perry Beeches III was put in special measures in October 2015 by Ofsted, and in November 2016 the academy trust was rated "inadequate".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-38026436 |title=Perry Beeches The Academy Trust school is 'inadequate' |work=BBC News |date=18 November 2016 |access-date=24 June 2017}}
Notable alumni
- Karen Johal (born 1991), actress (Ted Lasso, Phoenix Rise).{{Cite web |last=Large |first=Heather |date=28 May 2023 |title=Hard work is paying off for Walsall-born actress |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/features/2023/05/28/hard-work-is-paying-off-for-walsall-born-actress/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529021100/https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/features/2023/05/28/hard-work-is-paying-off-for-walsall-born-actress/|archive-date=29 May 2023|access-date=18 February 2025 |website=Express & Star |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Large |first=Heather |date=29 March 2020 |title=Big Apple life for Karen: What it's like to be an actress in New York |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2020/03/29/big-apple-life-for-karen-what-its-like-to-be-an-actress-in-new-york/ |access-date=18 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330164753/https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2020/03/29/big-apple-life-for-karen-what-its-like-to-be-an-actress-in-new-york/ |archive-date=30 March 2020 |website=Express & Star |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://arena-birmingham.academy Arena Academy website]
- {{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/timeline-how-perry-beeches-rose-11316657 |title=Timeline: How Perry Beeches rose to become David Cameron's top school before fall from grace |author=Graeme Brown |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |date=11 May 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016}}
{{Schools in Birmingham}}
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