John Cabot Academy 3.62

John Cabot Academy formerly John Cabot CTC, is one of 15 City Technology Colleges that first opened for students in the 1993/1994 academic year. It has since converted to Academy status on 1 September 2007. It is located east of Bristol, England in the Kingswood area of South Gloucestershire and is named after John Cabot, an explorer who set out from Bristol and reached the Americas in 1497. The academy has 1,068 students, about 220 of whom are in the sixth form.HistoryThe John Cabot City Technology College became the John Cabot Academy in 2007. The present Academy is independent of local authority control, but enjoys a close relationship with both South Gloucestershire and Bristol Local Authorities.InformationThe principal is Jon Angell. The academy is part of an Academy Federation led by Sir David Carter, the previous Principal, who was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours List. The federation runs lessons throughout the three schools, with sixth formers moving between schools for some of their lessons.The academy operates the PLTs Curriculum, which was developed at the academy. It focuses on core competencies, and teaches students new learning methods and working skills. The academy is divided into four communities named Saturn, Mercury, Neptune & Jupiter.Term system and school dayFrom the start of the academic year 2009/10 the term system has been changed to be the same as other schools in England to make the Diplomas easier to coordinate. This turned out to be unpopular due to demand for public places and therefore became over crowded.