One small sign, one giant leap for school

THE ball’s rolling . . . pictured in front of the new sign are, from left, Faiz Qazi (St Augustine’s), Mike McGhee, Danielle Bennet (St Augustine’s), Councillor Howard Sykes, Matthew Whitmore (Our Lady’s), Roger Whitaker and Danielle Tierney (Our Lady’s)

THE SIGN is up for Oldham’s new £30m Roman Catholic high school.

A council hoarding, erected by local firm Howard Jones Signs, now sits on the site of the former Lower Radclyffe School, Broadway, where the new school will be built.

The new school, which will serve as an example of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme, will merge Our Lady’s RC High School and St Augustine’s.

The state-of-the-art building will house modern technology and sporting facilities for 1,500 pupils, with community access.

Construction starts in early 2011 with completion in 2012.

It is part of the BSF programme, which aims to rebuild, replace or substantially refurbish all schools by 2014.

Howard Sykes, council leader, said: “There has been a lot of angst during this, but we’ve come together and we have acquired the site.

“This is the first one out of the blocks and we need to make sure it is absolutely first class.
“The two schools been working very hard and this is the first visible signs of the school.”

Roger Whitaker, head teacher at Our Lady’s, said: “Its a clear message to everyone in Oldham that were going to have a new school. It’s a serious step forward.”

Mike McGhee, head teacher at St Augustine’s, said: “We’ve been out and visited lots of new developments both in the UK and Holland and have brought back lots of ideas.

“Both schools have worked very closely to come up with a clear vision of what we want to provide.” Ideas for the school include a large covered central atrium, and more modern layout and design for classrooms. Pupils from both school have submitted ideas for their new school, such as having covered areas to sit in when it rains.

Danielle Tierney (13), from Our Lady’s, said: “If we get a nice place to work in, it makes you want to work.”

Faiz Qazi (12), from St Augustine’s, said: “I can’t wait to go to school in the new building.”