Excitement building as students and staff set to move into new 'state-of-the-art' Saddleworth School

Students and staff at Saddleworth School are "on track" to move from its current site off High Street in Uppermill into its new building at the former WH Shaw Pallet Works site in Diggle on Tuesday, March 1 after the half-term break.

The moving in date may change due to the challenges faced due to the pandemic such as staff absences but what is clear is that the school will have a new home soon.

As well as the new facilities, it will be able to provide an extra 150 places to cater for up to 1,500 students aged 11 to 16.

Head teacher Mike Anderson said the school cannot wait to move into the premises, which is off Huddersfield Road.

The new facilities will provide the "school that children and families of Saddleworth deserve", he added.

Outside the new building

Lockers at the site

Mr Anderson said: "We’re all incredibly excited to be moving into our new school.

"Our new building has been designed with students at its heart with state-of-the-art teaching and specialist spaces – first class sporting facilities and fantastic outdoor learning and social areas.

"After a long wait we'll finally have the school that children and families of Saddleworth deserve.

"It is going to make a huge difference to students and staff and we're delighted that we've only got a few short weeks to wait until we're finally there."

An IT office

A science room

The modern building will be a much-needed upgrade on the Uppermill building.

Three years ago, Cllr Amanda Chadderton, now Oldham Council's deputy leader, said parts of the site are over a century old, and it has been hit with flooding in the winter before.

Former head boy Joe Wheeler had described the conditions as "surreal", with crumbling plaster, leaking roofs and flooded classrooms, and tiles being blown off in strong winds.

The £19m plans by the Education Funding Agency to relocate the school were in the pipeline for more than a decade.

Proposals to move the school were first approved by Oldham’s planning committee in 2015.

But it was then overturned by a High Court Judge in 2017 following a judicial review.

Mr Justice Kerr ruled the council’s decision was unlawful, stating that the initial committee had "never addressed" the potential harm to heritage assets.

That "David and Goliath" battle was led by community campaigner Keith Lucas, who took the case to court on behalf of the Save Diggle Action Group.

But an amended application was drawn up and passed by councillors earlier this year.

Planning officers had argued that the impact to the heritage assets on the site of the WH Shaw site – namely the Grade II listed office building and clock tower – was outweighed by the "substantial benefit" of a new school.

The council has said there are no plans to demolish the clock tower building.

It was suggested that the listed office building could be used by the school to preserve its heritage, with the possibility raised of it being turned into a library.

An off-site parental drop-off area, as well as two residents’ parking areas, highways alterations and works to the access road to the former factory site will also be created.