Rochdale Sixth Form College opens its doors

Photo: Laura Wild

Friends Megan Porter, Alice Jones and Freya Buckley on their first day at the Rochdale Sixth Form College

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The Rochdale Sixth Form College opened for its first day of term today (Wednesday 8 September 2010).

It was a poignant moment for students across the borough as they are the first year group to enter the building to study for their A-levels.

The gates to the £26million state of the art building were opened at 8.30am and the new group of students made their way inside ready to learn.

Iman Al-Hassani will study Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology, she said: “It is really good, and really exciting, it has really good facilities and we will be the first people to use them.”

Groups of friends entered the new building through a swipe card system before spreading out across the five floors for their first lessons in the modern and stylish classroom facilities.

The students will study for their AS-levels this year, with a choice of 33 different subjects.

Timetables also include tutorials and enrichment time; students can pick their own enrichment activities, which include learning Japanese, knitting, driving theory practice, ballet and more.

The Sixth Form’s Principal, Julian Appleyard said: “We are absolutely delighted, literally absolutely delighted, we have overcome many obstacles in terms of the worst winter weather.

“We were oversubscribed, we have had a phenomenal response and the prior attainment of the students was better than expected.

“We have got students from every single secondary school in the borough, they are all represented which is tremendous.

“Every single student got the combination of subjects which they wanted.”

Mr Appleyard continued: “The buzz is immense, for me personally, starting when it was just a hole in the ground; it is emotional to have young people in the building at long last.

“Phase two is here now, we have to get the teaching right and challenge the students in terms of what they expect and provide them with support along the way.”

“I am delighted that we have a good student mix, we also have students from outside the borough and also the independent sector.

“We want to raise a-level grades and we will.

“This is something good for the borough – we are the first sixth form to be built in the UK since 2004.”

Mr Appleyard added: “In terms of improvements to the town centre and regeneration we are the first visible sign of regeneration and we hope to be a beacon for that – however, our job is education not architecture.”

More than 500 students have started at the college and 19 year 13 pupils from Hopwood Hall college are completing their A-level courses at the new Sixth Form.