It’s just what we wanted!

Beam Signing at Oldham Academy North Site Royton. Centre Principal Colette Burgess, Sir Bruce Eddington Dir Gen E-Act,

WELCOME to our building! That’s the message from the the principal of Oldham Academy North.

Colette Burgess and pupils signed a steel guirder which will be part of the new building on Broadway, Royton.

It is due to open next September when the academy will move from the former Grange School, Oldham.

“It’s a huge milestone. I feel extremely emotional,” Ms Burgess told guests at yesterday’s ceremony to mark the construction.

“I remember sitting down months ago with the architects, telling them about what I wanted this building to mean to the people of Royton, the people of Oldham and our children, and it’s there. It’s exactly what I wanted it to be.

“It’s going to provide a world-class education and community school for the people of Oldham and Royton.”

Facilities will be open to the public and she added: “This is a huge investment in our community and our children and our future.”

Sir Bruce Liddington, director general of E-ACT which sponsors the academy, also signed the beam.

He said: “Oldham Council, in my opinion, has got the most ambitious plans for rebuilding its schools and improving lives in Oldham, not just for now, for the future

“Their plans are not just ambitious they are courageous as well.”

Sir Bruce said that the academy would go from serving a monocultural area in the centre of Oldham to one welcoming children from all cultures.

He said it would be the jewel in E-ACT’s crown, adding: “It is rare you get an opportunity to move a school from where it is dominated by pupils from just one part of the community to an area where it will be genuinely mixed, genuinely comprehensive, genuinely accessible to all.

“The building itself will not make an excellent school. These people here and the teachers you see today will be responsible for making it an excellent school.”

The building’s 350-tonne steel frame is complete and contractors will start on the roof in the next two weeks.

Royton Councillor Bernard Judge said: “It’s a fantastic day for the area. What I am looking forward to is the community use and the academy’s theatre. There will be an 800-seat theatre on our doorstep. It’s amazing.”