Giving our children the best start in life

Hello everyone. It’s not often I get invited to a history-making moment, but this week proved the exception.

I was delighted to have a look around the new Star Academy Radcliffe, which opens its doors this week to its very first intake of pupils. This is the first new high school to be built in our borough for decades, and this is great news for Radcliffe and its young people.

Make no mistake, this is a crucial part of the ongoing regeneration of Radcliffe. It’s not just about the buildings, such as the new houses and leisure facilities that you can see are well under way.

It’s about the people who live there. What could be more important than giving our children the best start in life with an excellent education? The new school will also help promote healthy living and lifestyle choices, something else which will lift up the town.

This is why we’ve put so much effort into making this happen, working closely with Star Academies to bring a long-awaited high school to Radcliffe.

We’ve invested millions of pounds - providing the land, paying for a new access road and sporting facilities, and supporting the school financially. And because we wanted the school to open this year rather than next year, we had to pay for the temporary classrooms that have now been installed and await their first students.

I want to thank Radcliffe parents who have shown their support for the new school by applying to send their children to it. As a result the school is full, and 151 youngsters will be making their own piece of history when they cross the threshold this week. I have every confidence that this will be repeated in the next four years as the school expands to its full size.

We wish these young pioneers the very best of luck with their studies.

(I’m pictured at the school this week, with: Cllr Glyn Marsden; Damian Kay, schools assurance manager; Stephen Holden, interim director of education; Cllrs Russell Bernstein and Mike Smith; Craig Dillon, Star Academy’s regional director; and Paul Johnson, principal of Star Academy Radcliffe.)