Oldham gets £234,000 to beat holiday blues

OLDHAM youngsters will not have any trouble filling their spare time over the summer holidays, now that the borough has benefited from a £234,000 jackpot to extend out-of-school activities.

The borough is one of 18 chosen to share a £265 million windfall to extend the provision of arts, sports and drama activities over the next three years and the LEA is relishing the opportunity to extend an already successful programme.

Providing out-of-school activities is part of the extended schools initiative, which sees schools come together in clusters to deliver a full extra-curricular programme.

The scheme has been running in Oldham for more than three years and in that time children from each of the borough’s schools have benefited from breakfast clubs, study support at Oldham Athletic, and healthy eating and sports projects.

Pupils have also been busy producing artwork for the festival of diversity, while one of the school clusters has also been working on a garden which will appear at the Tatton Flower Show.

A spokesperson for the local education authority said: “Extended schools initiatives have huge benefits, with students being able to access a wide range of activities before and after school and in the holidays.

“These activities enhance pupils’ learning in school and support parents through increased childcare opportunities, parenting support and information sessions.”

A recent survey showed that 64 per cent of people do not believe there is enough to do in the summer, and the money will be used in Oldham to develop projects targeted at children who have difficulty accessing out of school services.