A NEW school will be built in Huddersfield.
Councillors last night voted to set up the school in the north of the town.
But trades unionists spoke out against the plan at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Cabinet in Huddersfield Town Hall.
The plan means Fartown High School will close in August, 2011, with the new school running at the site on Woodhouse Hall Road until 2013.
The new school will then move to a new site next to All Saints Catholic College in Bradley.
Kirklees Council’s Cabinet agreed last night to begin consultation on the plan.
Parents can have their say during April and May. In June the council will invite bids from private companies to run the new school.
But Mike Foster, of trade union Unison, told last night’s meeting that setting up an academy school would be a mistake.
He said: “I would like to see local schools in every area but I’m concerned that you’re holding a competition to run the school. A private provider will not be able to meet the aspirations of the community.
“The track record of academies is poor. We feel this is a dangerous path.”
Hazel Danson, a Kirklees officer for the National Union of Teachers, criticised the proposed size of the new school. It is planned to serve 1,200 children aged 11 to 16 from Birkby, Bradley, Deighton, Fartown, Fixby, Hillhouse and Sheepridge.
Ms Danson said: “There seems to be an unmovable belief that a school shouldn’t be smaller than 1,200. Where’s the evidence for this?
“A school of 1,200 may not be achievable, perhaps something around 900 would be more suitable.”
But council leader Clr Mehboob Khan believes the new school will be popular.
The Greenhead Labour man said: “Once the school is built we will have parents queueing up to get their children in.”
Clr Khan criticised Mr Foster and Ms Danson.
He said: “We could have a school that’s over-subscribed. That’s what we ought to be talking about – not talking down this investment, like the comrades on the back row.”
The Labour Cabinet voted unanimously to begin consultation on the plan.
The proposal has the backing of the Diocese of Leeds, which runs All Saints. The Catholic school will be extensively refurbished as part of the £24m plan.
The two schools will share state-of-the art indoor and outdoor sports facilities and access off Bradley Road. Two new access routes could also be created through the Bradley Business Park and on Fell Greave Road.
The new school will serve the growing young population in north Huddersfield. There are currently 1,900 11 to 16 year-olds in the catchment area but this is expected to rise to 2,400 by 2020.
Council figures show that 540 of the 1,900 pupils in the area go to high schools in Calderdale – mainly to Rastrick High. A further 371 attend All Saints while 380 go to Fartown.
