The future’s looking bright for Oldham

Oldham Sixth Form College principal NICK BROWN on his institution’s contribution to the turnaround in Oldham’s further-education prospects

IN the second decade of the fifth century BC, Themistokles, a politician supporting the new idea of democracy, put a highly unusual proposition to the astonished council of Athenians.

The council had met to decide what to do with all the wealth that had suddenly been discovered in a new vein of silver in the publicly owned mine.

The usual deal was to distribute the wealth equally between all male citizens. This would give each man about 10 drachmas; in those days a sizeable amount.

Themistokles suggested that the wealth be put together and spent on one major project. He proposed that the city build 200 triremes, a fast type of warship. He justified this by saying that Athens would soon need to defend itself against the Persian Empire.

He was howled down in the assembly and ridiculed but persevered and eventually the citizens voted to give up their personal share and to build the navy. It was this public decision that allowed the fledgling democracy to survive.

The Persian fleet was defeated at Salamis and Athens emerged as a rich and diverse cultural centre. Therefore, many of the best cultural elements of subsequent western society followed that one brave decision.

In 1990, Oldham Council made the decision to sink a large amount of its wealth in building a sixth-form college.

There had not previously been a sixth-form college built in England for 25 years. The council argued that results at A-level in Oldham and staying on rates after 16 were among the worst in the country.

It is interesting to note that the pass rate at A-level averaged across all Oldham schools in the 1980s was below 50 per cent. The proposition was derided and ridiculed and the project was described as a white elephant that would never work.

The council’s aim was that if the college was successful it might recruit 750 students and get the Oldham pass rate somewhere near the national average, or at least near that of comparable boroughs.

The college currently has 2,300 students, a pass rate of 99 per cent and results above the national average.

However, while this level of success is possible because of the potential of the students, its delivery is a consequence of first class teaching and high quality facilities. History has already clearly demonstrated that without these components, the student potential remains dormant.

Where the borough has been successful has been where it has been prepared to provide the best and make change happen despite opposition.

The college experience is not an exception; exactly the same things can be said about the junior university and University Campus Oldham. I remember being told in the 1990s that higher education would never take off in Oldham and that no university would move here.

Yet again, we had underestimated the potential and since it first opened, the university centre has been so successful it has had to build itself new premises.

In each case it seems that those who had reservations about the projects now accept them and support them.

During the same timescale, The Oldham College on Rochdale Road has completely turned itself around and become a high-performing beacon vocational college.

What have all these developments got in common apart from the fact they were initially decried? They have all demonstrated the potential of young people in Oldham if they are given high quality options and the conditions to develop themselves.

Their student bodies are all representative of the borough in general and the students mix peacefully in all of them.

When we talk to our students at the college, they tell us that despite entering the college with some trepidation, usually as a consequence of misinformation, when they leave they find it has been a positive and enjoyable experience and one that equips them to succeed in an increasingly diverse world.

So what can we conclude from this? Evidence and experience would suggest that any failings are not a consequence of over-ambitious schemes but on the contrary perhaps a failure to be ambitious enough.

Does this ring any bells with any current situation in the borough? It should do. Oldham is trying to replace old and dilapidated secondary schools with new schools.

A scheme such as this is obviously highly controversial but setting political opinions about academies aside for a moment, can any of us seriously think that providing new highly specialised and equipped modern buildings is not a good idea?

Would anyone suggest that the old buildings at Radclyffe and Failsworth were better than the new ones? Put in this context the answer is obviously ‘no’ and here the context or the full story is the most important element.

Oldham now has a national reputation for its further education sector and the best is yet to come in the science centre, which will be the first in the country and has the support of every meaningful national science body in the country.

It has been my experience over 20 years at the college that young people realise when they are getting a good deal and respond accordingly.

Visitors to the college comment on the friendly atmosphere and the courtesy they encounter.

We need now to move on to the secondary sector and afford them the same opportunities, yet most of all we need to have more faith in the potential of our young people and not deprive them of a richer future because of our own hang-ups and poorer experiences.

Constructive criticism is important but a constantly negative attitude can become a default position.

This borough has one way forwards. And that is through developing highly educated, skilled and balanced young people who through their influence and earning power can build a better borough.

For this to happen we must give the best possible opportunities to our young people.

Heraclitus said that you can never step in the same river twice.

In general, life gives us very few real opportunities. Those we have we need to grasp and support.