Saved by the bell!

Academies get the go-ahead

FOUR new Oldham high schools which were at risk of being scrapped WILL be built.

Education secretary Michael Gove has given the green light for the three academies and the Catholic secondary.

Substantial re-building work at North Chadderton School has also been approved.

The announcement comes a month after Mr Gove controversially scrapped the £55 billion Building Schools for the Future Programme (BSF) to re-build or refurbish every secondary in England.

Oldham’s £266 million plans were left in tatters as hundreds of projects throughout the country were axed including a new Saddleworth School and a new school for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties in Chadderton.

Improvements to Blue Coat, Crompton House, Hathershaw, Royton and Crompton, New Bridge Learning Centre and Oldham’s Pupil Referral Unit were also binned along with a unit for autistic pupils. Plans for the £30 million RC school —combining St Augustine, Werneth, and Our Lady’s Royton — were put under review along with the academies and North Chadderton.

The five schemes, which were the furthest advanced, will now go ahead.

They are among 33 school buildings and 44 academies run by sponsors around the country which will receive funding. The costs of another 75 academies are being reviewed.

The announcement was made a fortnight after Oldham MPs Michael Meacher and Phil Woolas met with Mr Gove to plead the borough’s case.

Relieved Mr Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said: “I came out quite optimistic because he said he recognised Oldham’s unique case — the case we and the local authority had made on community cohesion.

“It’s obviously disastrous that we haven’t got the other school buildings. Saddleworth in my constituency will have to wait for another generation.”

But his Oldham West and Royton colleague had been less optimistic.

Mr Meacher thought Oldham would have to wait until the Government’s autumn spending review for funding.

He said: “I am stunned. I just had not thought this would happen. It is very good news for Oldham.”

The Catholic school is due to open in Broadway, Chadderton in November, 2012.

Mike Aston, chairman of governors at Our Lady’s said: “It is absolutely superb. We have been working on it for so long, for years. To have it taken away at the last minute would have been a disaster.”

Oldham Academy North, Waterhead Academy and Oasis Academy Oldham will open in September in the existing buildings of the five secondaries they are replacing: in September: Breeze Hill, Counthill, Kaskenmoor, Grange and south Chadderton.

They will then move into new buildings in Hollinwood, Waterhead and Royton in 2012/2013.

North Chadderton’s refurbishment will be completed by February, 2013.



Victory for campaign of quiet diplomacy

EDUCATION bosses are delighted that five multi-million pound secondary school building projects which hung in the balance will go ahead.

The decision follows intensive lobbying to secure the new Roman Catholic high school, three academies and extensive rebuilding at North Chadderton School.

But the council is working to make sure that the schools whose building work was axed by the Government last month get much-needed investment.

Council leader Howard Sykes said: “We are absolutely delighted by this news – this is a victory for our campaign of quiet diplomacy in recent weeks.

“Oldham Council, along with other key stakeholders, has undertaken a thorough campaign of behind-the-scenes lobbying since this review was announced.

”That has involved talking to ministers and civil servants to press the borough’s case and convey the concerns of parents, staff and students.

“We are thrilled that these schemes can now proceed and I pay tribute to all those involved in putting our case forward – including two of our local MPs and our academy sponsors: E-ACT, Oasis, and Oldham College.”

Councillor Jack Hulme, cabinet member for children and families added: “This has been a very difficult time and our work is far from over.”

”We now need to revisit those Building Schools for the Future schemes that were officially halted on July 5. The Government has already indicated that schools will still get direct investment in their buildings and we will be seeking further detail and clarity on this as a matter of urgency.”