New free school plan approved

Oasis Academy Limeside

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OLDHAM is to get a new secondary school ­- one of more than 130 new free schools approved by the Department for Education.

It will be run by academy chain Oasis Community Learning which already has two schools in the borough.

Oasis Academy Oldham secondary school opened in 2010 and was rated "requires improvement" by Ofsted last May, although its leadership was praised as "good".

Its sister primary, Oasis Academy Limeside, was judged "outstanding" by the education watchdog in its last inspection in 2013.

Oldham Council's Cabinet approved proposals for a new 1,500-place free school last year to help cope with the rising birth rate, new housing developments and more families moving to the borough.

Government legislation means any new schools have to be academies or free schools which are government-funded but outside local authority control and run by groups such as charities or businesses. The council preferred a free school as it would not have to pay the start-up costs associated with an academy.

But the borough's largest teaching union opposes free schools and says Oldham does not need any more "failed educational experiments".

The new Oasis school, whose name is to be confirmed, will open in September, 2018, with year 7 pupils, expanding each year to its 1,500 capacity in 2022. It is working with Oldham Council and the Department for Education to find a location, either in an existing building or for a new one.

Oasis runs 48 academies in England, with 75 per cent judged "good" or "outstanding" by Ofsted. More than half of their pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds. The schools also form "hubs" to provide support and services for families.

Oasis regional director Rachel Jones said Oasis had a track record of swiftly improving schools.

She added: "Oasis Academy Oldham is a school on a journey of rapid improvement. Ofsted's inspection last year highlighted the impact that principal Nigel Whittle has had and that his strong leadership is driving up student progress ­- a finding endorsed and supported by the Department for Education."

"It is this uncompromising vision that we want to instil at our new secondary school: providing exceptional education at the heart of the community, where each young person is given the opportunities that they deserve to make great progress.

"There is still much to be done, not least listening and engaging with the families that we want to serve. Only by doing so, will we be able to establish the exceptional new academy that the people of Oldham deserve."

Oldham's two existing free schools have been dogged by controversy.

Collective Spirit in Chadderton was rated "inadequate" and placed in special, in what Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon described as the worst Ofsted report he had seen. Dozens of parents have also pulled their children our or are looking for alternative schools for them.

The £9 million town centre GM University Technical College is to close this summer, three years after it opened, following poor results and very low student numbers.

Tony Harrison, joint branch secretary of Oldham National Union of Teachers, said: "The last thing that Oldham needs is another free school.

"Evidence shows that free schools do not improve the educational experience of pupils, are a poor use of resources and are a threat to local democratic control of education.The free school programme shows that there is money available for education.

"The National Audit Office has reported that there has been significant wasteful spending on free schools and this has had an impact on other local schools.

"The amount spent on land acquisition alone has cost 19 per cent more than official land valuations. Free schools receive 60 per cent more funding per pupil than local authority-maintained schools but there is no evidence to show that they produce better results.

It's time the Government realised that this should be spent wisely and where it is needed ­- that is on local authority-maintained schools.

"The cost of the programme will be £9.7bn by 2021. This is at a time when other Oldham schools are struggling to make ends meet.

"Oldham has had enough of failed educational experiments. Most recently we have seen the demise of Collective Spirit and The GM.

"In Greater Manchester we have seen other free schools having to close because of poor planning that local democratic control would have prevented."

A total of 69,000 new school places will be created in the biggest wave of free school approvals by this parliament.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said: "We need schools that can bring out the best in every single child no matter where they're growing up, how much their parents earn, or however different their talents are.

"That's why these new schools are so important ­- they give us the school places we need for the future, and they also give parents more choices to find a great school place in their area that's right for their child."