£152m boost for schools and more on the way
More than £152 million will be invested in new and modernised
secondary schools in the Rochdale borough over the next six
years.
That’s the result of a bid for money from the Government’s
Building Schools for the Future programme aimed at transforming
secondary education..
And even more money will be coming the area’s way soon to pay
for a new Academy in Middleton and for a sixth-form college.
The Leader of the
Council, Councillor Alan Taylor, said: “This money will bring
schools that are fit for the future, equipped with the latest
technology and providing the best in teaching and learning.
“They will be open longer, so that adults as well as children
and young people can use them. More money will also be invested in
education for secondary pupils with special educational needs.
“The planned improvements in secondary schools follow our
successful investment in education for younger children, with three
new primary schools opened last year and another two primary and
three special schools due to open in September.”
He promised that the reduction in the number of secondary school
places that would need to be made at the same time as improving
schools would be done after listening to the people across the
Borough.
We heard just before Christmas that our bid for money to
invest in secondary schools had been successful but we did not
learn until later how much we would receive.
The £152 million coming through Building Schools for the Future
including money to build and improve schools plus money for
information and communications technology equipment.
The money will be used to create in each of the Borough’s four
townships new “learning centres” – so called because they will
provide learning opportunities for more than just schools’ own
pupils, but will be accessible to all the community..
The new learning centres are planned to replace St Joseph’s RC
High School in Heywood (which will also become a school for both
Roman Catholic and Church of England students), Hollingworth High
in Milnrow and Falinge Park High in Rochdale. A new Academy,
supported finacially by sponsors, is planned at the Queen Elizabeth
High site in Middleton.
The Council will be involved in discussions on how much
Government money it will get towards the cost of the Academy. There
will also be more money to come some time later towards the cost of
a sixth-form college.
All the changes to secondary schools will involve consultation
with schools and other interested parties in the local community.
Some seventy informal consultation meetings have already taken
place and the outcomes of the consultation will be reported
to the Council’s Cabinet on 29 January to determine the
way forward.