£230m schools plan can cut segregation

OLDHAM’S £230 million secondary school rebuilding programme is a unique opportunity to tackle segregation, according to a community cohesion think-tank.

But all local communities must be fully consulted and involved in developing new schools.

These are among the findings of a new report “Building Community Cohesion in Britain” which focused on 13 areas, including Oldham.

Written by the the Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo), it named Oldham among the most segregated areas of the country.

It warned of “white flight” from schools and said: “Many of the schools and colleges in the areas we have studied are segregated to a greater or lesser extent and the evidence available to us at a local level suggested that this was generally worsening over recent years.

“This reflects in part residential segregation, but it reflects also parental choice, despite the fact that most people we spoke to in focus groups wanted their children to have a mixed education.

“Parental choice tended to push people to what they saw as the safe option, where children with similar backgrounds went.

“Parents make similar decisions so that their child can attend a single-sex school, or a faith school.”

The report praised Oldham’s award-winning peacemaker project for “bringing together young people from segregated secondary schools to work together to overcome prejudice.”

And it pointed to the Government’s Building Schools for the Future Programme, adding: “BSF provides in many areas a unique opportunity to tackle segregation and local groups need to ensure that principles of community cohesion underpin local plans; and that all local communities are fully consulted and involved in the process of developing new schools.”

Oldham’s BSF plans will see all of its secondary schools rebuilt or refurbished by 2015 and includes replacing five schools with three academies run by sponsors. One aim of Oldham’s aims is to create schools that have a better social, ethnic and religious mixture.

However, a council report admits the task of bringing schools together has raised concerns about community tensions. It adds: “The BSF programme has been identified as a potentially significant risk for the council.”

Nick Johnson, author of the iCoCo report, said: “Oldham has acknowledged the problem and is doing something about it.

“We can’t say it has all the answers, but it is trying to learn what the answers might be. In that sense, Oldham is to be applauded.”

However, Councillor Kay Knox, Cabinet member for children, young people and families insisted that community cohesion was not the main aim of BSF.

She said: “The main driver is about getting all our schools to a 21st century standard. It is about raising attainment.”