By Kelly Eve

Last updated 15:54, Thursday, 28 August 2008

BROTHERS Lee and Joe Herring were among the first to get a glimpse of their new school yesterday as Carlisle’s academies opened their doors to visitors.

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Follow the leader: Families look round

A series of open sessions at the Richard Rose Central and Morton Academies began yesterday morning, allowing pupils, parents and visitors the chance to look around the sites before lessons begin next week.

Lee was among the 11-year-olds starting in year seven on September 4 who went along to Harraby to tour the central academy, the former North Cumbria Technology College site.

He was joined by his mum Janet and brother Joe, 13, who has been at St Aidan’s and will join the academy as a year nine pupil.

Together, they were given a tour of the site – the first stop of which was one of two massive temporary classroom blocks that will house English classes and IT for the upper years of the school.

The two brothers will cross the city every school day for up to three years from their home in Morton using one of nine free bus routes operating while a new state-of-the-art academy is built at Lismore Place.

Mrs Herring said: “The classrooms are looking quite good. I’m excited and I’m trying to pass that on to the boys. There has been too much negativity about it and that needs to change.

“We’ve got the bus passes at home, they just need their photographs on them. The bus route is right at our road end and straight to the school.

Lee is leaving Newlaithes and none of his friends are coming here but he’s looking forward to it.”

Lee said: “I’m a bit nervous but there are great views out of the windows (of the new classrooms). They’re big.”

Ella Nelson, who lives in Harraby, visited with her children Demi, Jannine and six-year-old son Ashah.

Demi, 12, was a year seven pupil at NCTC and has seen some of the transformation work that has taken place at the school. Returning as a year eight pupil, Demi helped show 11-year-old sister Jannine around.

Demi said: “This is going to be better than NCTC. It’ll work better because there are more classrooms and more teachers and it’ll give us more experiences.”

Ella added: “I was a bit worried about all the changes at first but the more I see the more I like what is going on.”

Around 60 parents and children went to the central academy and were shown around by director Mark Yearsley and three of his directors of learning, senior staff who will head four new ‘learning zones’.

The tours concluded in the canteen, where sample dishes from the lunch menu had been prepared.

At Morton, academy director Katie Robinson carried out similar tours of the Wigton Road site for visitors with her senior staff.

Mr Yearsley had to inform visitors that those expecting to pick up free school uniforms yesterday would leave empty handed after the supplier failed to deliver them on time.

However, he insisted they were being delivered last night and would be ready for collection today and tomorrow at the school sites and from an Eddie Stobart trailer on Saturday between 9am and noon outside the Old Town Hall in the city centre.

Mr Yearsley, in his welcome to visitors, also said that the Richard Rose Federation – the organisation running the two academies – aims to get the schools into the top 25 per cent in the country. Their predecessor schools, St Aidan’s, Morton and NCTC, are currently among the bottom 10 per cent.

He also called on parents to support on school rules on such things as jewellery – pupils will not be able to wear any – and behaviour. The open sessions run until tomorrow.

For both the central and Morton academies, pupils in years seven, 10 and sixth-form will start school on September 4. Years eight, nine and 11 begin on Monday, September 8. Sixth-formers will study largely at the St Aidan’s site.

KEve@cngroup.co.uk