Pupils’ academy plea to MPs
Reporter: Karen Doherty
Date published: 14 July 2010
PUPILS took their fight for a new £30 million Catholic high school to Oldham’s MPs.
The students from Our Lady’s, Royton, and St Augustine, Werneth, showed off the plans for the stunning building to Labour’s Michael Meacher and Phil Woolas.
The pair have agreed to speak to Education Secretary Michael Gove and deliver a letter on behalf of the pupils.
Construction was to start in Broadway, Chadderton, in January ahead of the merger of the two schools in November, 2012.
But the funding is now being reviewed by the coalition government after it cancelled the £55 billion Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
Artists’ impressions of the school show a chapel at the centre of a communal atrium which puts faith at the heart of learning. The area is flooded with light from a translucent roof.
Specialist teaching areas replicate those found in industry, and classrooms are as flexible as possible to cater for small or large groups.
PE facilities meet Sport England standards and there are indoor and outdoor social areas.
The school has been in the pipeline for at least four years as part of Oldham’s £266 million BSF plans to replace or refurbish its crumbling secondaries.
However, these were left in tatters when the Government axed the proposals for eight of the borough’s schools and put others under review, including the Roman Catholic school.
St Augustine head teacher Mike McGhee said: “We felt disappointed because of the amount of hard work that’s gone into completing the design with the builders. We have arrived at a very exciting time where it was about to come to life.”
Pupils have also designed a model learning studio — a miniature version of the new facilities — which was due to be built at St Augustine.
However, Mr McGhee added: “We are not totally despondent because we are convinced that all our hard work and all our efforts will lead to the success of a new school, and the new school will open on time in September, 2012.
“Both schools have worked incredibly hard and incredibly well together. We are really pleased with the school design and we are ready to start building in January.”
