Westward Academy

"'From the depths of our hearts, to the infinity of the stars'"Westward Academy (WA) is a specialist school located on a vast, heritage status campus in West Westward. It is one of the few educational institutions on Earth and across the entire universe with a focus on teaching many forms of magic, physical education subjects, and STEM subjects.

It is co-educational and teaches students from the human ages of 11 to 18. The academy is famous for it's emphasis on supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds and providing them with opportunities to learn alongside those similar and different to themselves.

In addition, it is also famous for it's long history of boarding, with many families from around Earth choosing to send their children to Westward, despite often having schools with a similar focus and quality of education nearby.

History
The school was established sometime in prior or during the Early Middle Ages, approximately 30 years after the Hidden Society united after the Great Fires of Magic took place.

In the beginning after the Unification, the school only provided education to Animelt and those capable of magic such as Sorcerers, strictly excluding fully human students from enrolling as per Westward city policy. The early days of the school were humble, with a small set of teachers, staff, and students of around 200 in total. The main building of the school, which was newly built around this time, was used for all classes and some rooms were being used for dorm rooms.

Defence And Intelligence Tests (DAIT)
The Defence and Intelligence Tests are the official secondary school qualification offered in schools like WA, with WA being the first to design and implement the qualification. It was approved and began in the early 1980s after a long history of schools assessing and grading students based on the collective opinion of teachers, like many other schools similar to WA were doing for hundreds of years.

The qualification is divided up into 6 "bands" with Bands 1 and 2 being trial years, with students who enrolled at WA at the age of 11 or similar age study all main compulsory subjects. Bands 1 and 2 have a particular focus on preparing students to pick one of 6 "pathways" they will study for the rest of their time at WA. Bands 1 and 2 are focused on introducing students to the concepts of their subjects and building on any prior knowledge or education they may have. A particular focus in these bands are the relationships students build with others and strengthening them, which is fostered through teaching of subjects.

In Band 3, students who were not previously enrolled in WA or continue their education do not have a fixed set of subjects, as they are allowed to select a pathway without going through Bands 1 and 2. However, it is necessary that they have received some form of academic education before enrolling, as there is an entrance exam for Band 3*. Students enrolled in WA in either Bands 1 and 2 do not sit the entrance exam into Band 3. From Band 3, subjects are narrowed down and students focus on the subjects relevant to their pathway instead of all compulsory subjects for the remainder of their time at WA.

Westward Academy does not take in additional enrollments after Band 3 unless under scholarship or exceptional circumstances (both at the discretion of the Principal and other relevant teaching staff), as the student quota for each year group is generally at or exceeding capacity.

From Band 3 until Band 6, there is not much change in the focus of teaching as most subjects continue to build on what has already been taught in addition to preparing students for their end of year DAIT exams for their pathways. However, in Bands 5 and particularly 6, students are expected to have a solid grasp of knowledge the pathways they are studying as well as working with a diverse range of other students and teachers with ease.

Subjects are not taught all year long but split over semesters

Students who successfully complete DAIT 6 with good grades and skills tend to be accepted or have guaranteed entry into tertiary institutions or training academies and workplaces.

DAIT Band 1 Subjects - Compulsory
Semester 1