The science kings

science students Ben Arundel (left) and Richard Keightley show some of the facilities which will be on offer at Oldham’s £10million regional science centre.

State-of-the-art centre sees Oldham set the standard and silence the doubters

OLDHAM’S ‘negative thinkers’ have been dealt a massive blow with the arrival of the new £10million regional science centre.

That’s the upbeat verdict of Oldham Sixth Form College principal Nick Brown and Oldham Council leader Howard Sykes.

The pair heralded the arrival of a visionary state-of-the-art facility — the first of its kind in the country — that they believe will open up a world of opportunity for the borough’s youth.

Education chiefs joined some of Oldham’s civic and business leaders yesterday for a first look around the open-plan King’s Point building that, by September, will be converted to practical laboratories buzzing with science students. Councillor Sykes applauded the people who had worked together in the Oldham Partnership to make it a reality, delivering a slap in the face for Oldham’s negative thinkers who said it would never happen.

“This legacy will enable future generations to cast away pessimism and replace it with lofty aspirations,” he said. The rebuke for the naysayers was backed by Mr Brown, who is also chairman of the Oldham Partnership. He commended Oldham’s political parties for burying their differences when it came to “making things happen” for the benefit of the borough.

He said: “If it wasn’t for the willingness of some people to put their heads on the block, we wouldn’t be here now.”

Mr Brown has worked relentlessly to make the dream of a regional science centre a reality, and said the King’s Point facility was a fantastic end to his journey in Oldham which started as a head teacher at Breeze Hill School before he joined the college in 1987. He leaves at the end of next month to become an author.

Mr Brown’s parting shot to Oldham was a plea to stop putting itself down.

He said: “We do some absolutely fantastic things, and this borough shows it leads the country.

“We have the Sixth Form College, a junior university which is the only one in the country, Oldham College, and now this new science centre. How many towns have a frontage like that?

“We are one of the most successful further education centres in the North-West.”

Mr Brown described the science centre as a goldmine, which would help equip Oldham’s young people with skills for the jobs of the future.

He said it would put fire in the belly of primary school children who were often turned off from science because they didn’t have the facilities or specialist science teachers.

This radical change in science opportunities aims to take primary school children into the new centre and excite them about the possibility of pursuing science. The work will continue into secondary schools.

“That is where the future is. That is where our young people will get jobs, and bring wealth into our borough,” said Mr Brown.

Councillor Sykes said the centre was a beacon that will bring people into Oldham for an education, helping them towards “a successful career and a decent salary.”