Olympic Village school won't specialise in sport

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The Chobham Academy, as the project is known, is now expected to focus on teaching music, drama and English as a contribution to the "cultural legacy" of the Olympics.

The proposed academy is being sponsored by construction firm Lend Lease, which is building the Olympic village.

It made the decision to change the specialism with the full support of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Specialist schools get extra cash to teach particular subject areas, such as languages or arts. They have to teach a broad curriculum but can allocate extra time to their chosen subjects, run a wider range of courses and offer more after-school clubs. The Government wants all secondary schools to become specialist in at least one area.

Lend Lease chairman Nigel Hugill said he decided to change the Chobham Academy's focus after London won its Olympic bid. He argued that the academy would excel in sports education simply as a result of its location on the Olympic site.

"Sporting excellence will be part of the DNA and we are looking to see what we can do to extend beyond that with the cultural legacy that does seem to have become a bit lost," he said. "We want to be able to make a real contribution to the cultural legacy as well as the sporting one."

Under the plan, which is yet to be given final approval, the building will accommodate athletes in Stratford during the Games before becoming a school in 2013. The assembly hall will double as a performance space for music and drama.

The academy will have sporting facilities such as five-a-side football pitches, all-weather pitches, tennis courts, cricket nets, a gym and a jogging track, which the local community will be able to use.

It will be one of a pioneering group of "all-through" academies which will educate children from nursery to the age of 18 though a network of "mini-schools" arranged on the same site.