A new Joint Faith Secondary School for Heywood

Cllr Jacqui Beswick

At the meeting of Monday 5 June the School Organisation Committee, on which Heywood Councillors Brian Davies and Alan McCarthy sit, unanimously voted in favour of establishing a new Joint Faith Secondary School on the site of the existing St Joseph`s RC High School from 1 September 2007.

St Joseph`s RC is relatively small and has been undersubscribed for several years, therefore, has sufficent capacity in the existing buildings to admit the normal pattern of RC applicants, as well as to accommodate the likely demand for CE places.

There has been a long demand for a Church of England Secondary School in the Borough.Some 300 young children leave primary schools in the Borough every year and are admitted to CE schools outside the Borough.
 
West Heywood councillor, Cllr Jacqui Beswick, said: quot;I welcome the establishment of a joint faith school in Heywood, not only does it secure the long term viability of the school site, it also brings into the borough a Church of England provision which in the past has seen  children having to transfer out of the Borough to Bury or Oldham".
 
Discussion on the establishment of a joint faith school in the Borough has been ongoing for a number of years between the Salford and Manchester Dioceses, a long term consultation exercise has taken place between the Dioceses', School Governors, local parents and staff - the proposals being received very positively with no representations being made against the proposals.

Janina Ainsworth, Director of Education for Manchester Diocese said, quot;We are very pleased to see this project given the green light by Rochdale School Organisation Committee. The new school will be opening in September 2007, formally admitting children from  Church of England families to join the Roman Catholic pupils in St Joseph's School. We have been working together for over two years to make this a reality, with the approval of the bishops of Salford and Manchester. It is an exciting development for the school and the two dioceses."