More than 200 sign school funding petition

The governors of Heybrook Primary School have submitted a petition to the Rochdale Township Committee regarding funding for redevelopment of the school.

A petition signed by over 200 people was given to the council at a meeting last night (Wednesday 7 July 2010).

After several years of campaigning and planning it has been agreed that the school building needed to be replaced. Plans were put in place for a new build on a site near to the current school, to be ready for spring 2012.

The new build would be a merger of Heybrook Primary School, Heybrook Sure Start Centre and South Street Nursery,

However, in June this year (2010) it was announced that the build will not go ahead, due to funding cuts, leaving children, staff, parents and governors extremely disappointed.

Shefali Begum, a governor at the school explained how disappointed everybody at the school and the local community are feeling after getting ‘so close.’

“We have had so many meetings, and planning and consultation, even the footprint for the building was ready and we expected the work to start soon.

“We were so close, we have gone from having everything to having nothing, all the plans have been taken away. We half expected that some time down the line there may be a problem but we thought we would still be able refurbish the building and improve it but we can't even do that.”

Ms Begum added: “We are so disappointed, if any school, any area needs a modern building to provide a better education I believe it is this school and this area. This is one of the most deprived in the county.

“People wanted and needed this development it would have been a boost to the area and the pupils. The pupils are capable of so much but we need to be able to provide the facilities they need.”

A statement from the governors of Heybrook School was presented to officers at the township meeting. Ms Begum wanted to read the statement but was restricted by time and photocopies were handed to councillors instead.

It asks the council to re-think the spending plan and to let the build go ahead as originally planned.

The latter of the statement, read: “In the next school year it is now intended that the school admission number rises from 75 to 90. Given these large numbers if it more imperative than ever that we are able to make changes to the building to address the issue of outdoor provision in the early years of school.

“We need to act now to ensure that what we are to offer our young children gives them the best possible start. This is particularly pertinent in a community which lacks gardens and outdoor spaces making the children’s school experience crucial to their early physical development.”

The statement from the governors concluded with: “On behalf of the school community, the governors are asking the township committee to ensure that the money originally thought to be best spent on the shortcomings of the provision for the children of Wardle worth is allowed to stay in this community to maintain, improve and upgrade the current building and facilities to allow the school to deliver a twenty first century curriculum.”

Ward Councillor, Farooq Ahmed expressed his concern with how the matter was dealt with at the township meeting as well as explaining why the funding needs to be safe guarded.

He said: “I was unhappy with the meeting last night, it was a mess, it was chaotic, Shefali wasn’t given the chance to read the statement.

“They (the township) try to brush things aside, and keep it quiet but this is a key issue it is about the young children of the borough and we should safeguard the funding.

“The school needs modernising, don’t get me wrong it is a cracking building, but things need to change, the teaching environment needs to change.”

Councillor Ahmed added: “The school gets outstanding results and I can’t fault the teachers and teaching assistants but the school has been longing for a new build for many years.”

Councillor Ahmed concluded: “I would urge the council to reconsider the funding, the money hasn’t gone away, it is still there. The township’s priorities include the education of young people and last night this was disregarded.

“The children are the future, they need a good education and if we cut the air supply at the beginning then we won’t get anywhere.”

A decision will be made with regards to the funding at a Cabinet meeting at Rochdale Town Hall on Monday (12 July 2010) night.