Academy opens in blazer of glory

BRIGHT future ... Zoyha Gul and Aaron Khan at the Roxbury Campus of Waterhead Academy. PICTURE by VINCENT BROWN

PUPILS flocked to school in their smart new uniforms as Oldham’s third Academy opened its doors today.

Waterhead Academy, which replaces Breeze Hill and Counthill schools, completed the trio of Academies starting anew when 1,500 pupils made their way to lessons this morning.

History had already been made when Oldham Academy North became the first academy to open in the borough, marking the start of an overhaul of secondary education. It was followed by Oasis Academy Oldham.

Waterhead Academy will operate at the schools’ existing sites, known as the Roxbury Campus and the other as the Moorside Campus, before a new building is opened at Orb Mill, Huddersfield Road, Waterhead, in October 2012.

Improvements at the school, including new school signs, have been carried out over the summer.

And pupils’ new uniforms included the “Waterhead Swirl” badge they have chosen in blue and green. They were impressed by its “modern” colours and design which represents the merger of the secondaries it replaces.

The academy is being run by Oldham College with David Yates as principal.

The academies, run by sponsors, were part of Oldham’s £266million proposals to refurbish or replace all of its secondary schools.

These were shattered when the new Government halted the £55 billion Building School’s for the Future programme.

A new Saddleworth School and improvements to others in the borough were cut but the academies, a new Roman Catholic High school and extensive rebuilding at North Chadderton survived.