For whom the bell tolls

Schools left reeling as rebuilding money axed

SCHOOLS are today coming to terms with the devastating news that multi-million pound plans to overhaul Oldham’s crumbling schools lie in tatters.

A massive building project to revamp or rebuild the borough’s secondary schools which was on the brink of turning into a reality has been halted at the 11th hour.

Work was due to start imminently on the £266 million Building Schools for the Future scheme which would have re-paced or re-built every secondary school.

Eight have been scrapped and the rest — including three academies and a new Catholic high school — hang in the balance.

Head teachers and education chiefs in Oldham are today reeling from the devastating blow.

Devastated Carol Cawkwell, head teacher at Hathershaw School, said: “It’s very disappointing for Hathershaw, for the community, and for the whole of Oldham.

“BSF has been an Oldham-wide project to raise aspirations for young people both now and in the future.

“For us at Hathershaw we are in a very elderly building that has all kinds of problems and is not fit for purpose.

“The rooms are smaller than even the smallest modern classrooms in a new school.”

The news is a further blow for Hathershaw, which missed out on millions of pounds when the new Radclyffe and Failsworth schools were built.

“The one hope on the horizon for us was that BSF would save us. If the academies go ahead we are going to be 0.7 mile away from an all-singing, all-dancing new academy building. It is a very sad day for us,” added Mrs Cawkwell.

Glenys Butterworth, Oldham Council’s shadow education spokesman, added: “It’s diabolical.

“I am appalled but I am not surprised because the Tories have never believed in educating the masses. This is just going back to form.

“I specifically have never been in favour of academies, but we do need to replace schools and we need the best opportunities for children.

“They are turning the clock back and our children are going to be condemned to stay in sub-standard buildings.”

Crompton House School was to be refurbished and head teacher Elsie Tough said: “So much time and energy has been put into this project by so many people, and it seems it may all have been for nothing.

“The development of comfortable new and refurbished buildings would have gone hand in hand with our agenda for change.

“Disappointingly, we must now do our best with what we’ve got.”

Phil Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth said: “This is so sad and so unnecessary. We have to get the deficit down after the banking crisis, but cutting capital expenditure puts people out of work.

“Unless this is changed, we will have to wait another generation to bring out schools up to modern standards.”

Councillor Jack Hulme, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said he understood the Government would review if Oldham could proceed with the initial phase, to build a new Roman Catholic school on the former Radclyffe Lower school site and to refurbish North Chadderton School.

He said the council was also seeking “urgent clarification” on academy cuts, saying: “We believe we have strong arguments, particularly as two of our planned academies bring four schools together on fresh sites.

“Any reduction for BSF and academies will be a blow to both the public and private sectors, and would leave us facing many challenges.”

And a hopeful Mike Aston, chairman of governors at Our Lady’s said: “I will be disappointed if it doesn’t go ahead. I am not disappointed yet.

“We do have a contract so I think that’s going to help us. If it did not go through it would be devastating.

Council leader Howard Sykes vowed the council would fight for Oldham’s BSF and Academies schemes.

He said: “We understand that parents, teachers and students will be very concerned, as we are.

“Some time ago I wrote to Michael Gove to press the case (for Oldham) and we will be lobbying Government in the strongest possible terms in the weeks ahead.”

Under the £55 billion 15-year Building Schools for the Future scheme, every secondary school in England was due to be rebuilt or refurbished by 2020.

The Oldham schools are among 715 revamps already signed up to the scheme which will now not go ahead.

Mr Gove blamed the “unavoidable” cancellations on the “financial mess left by Labour,” and said the BSF scheme had been characterised by “massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy.”