The £650k project that could transform dozens of kids’ lives

A £650,000 project could transform the lives of dozens of families in Oldham. Yew Tree Community School in Chadderton could soon cater for 24 young kids with special educational needs. 

There is currently no provision for five-to-seven year olds with speech, language and communication needs in the area. It means families are having to travel out of the borough to get the right support for their kids. 

Council cabinet members are now backing a new scheme that would see modular classrooms and therapy rooms installed at a local primary school. 

Presenting the new project at a cabinet meeting, Cllr Mohon Ali, (pictured below) cabinet member for education and skills, said: “Too many of our youngest children are having to travel outside the local area and in some cases outside the borough just to access the right support. This project is a clear step forward towards addressing that gap.” 

The prefab classrooms are ‘designed to support smaller group teaching and therapeutic work’, according to Ali, and would reduce the council’s reliance on out-of-borough placements which ‘place pressure on families and our high-needs budget’. 

The funding would come from the local authority’s High Needs grant, a pot of money from the government dedicated to SEND provisions. The planning and building cost is estimated at around £592,000 plus a 10 pc contingency fund in case of unexpected extra costs. 

Townhall bosses greenlit the project alongside a major maintenance programme to address the backlog of urgent repairs needed at local schools across the borough. The £5.3m scheme runs until 2029 and will deal with issues like old boilers and electrical faults in school buildings. 

Cllr Elaine Taylor said: “We know that the condition of our school buildings directly impacts the quality of education. When heating systems fail or electrical wiring becomes unsafe, it’s not just an inconvenience, it disrupts learning, affects wellbeing and can even force closure. That is something we cannot allow to happen. 

“Over the next two years we will deliver a targeted plan backed by the School Condition Allocation funding. This is a significant commitment but it is an investment in our community’s future where every pound spent will help keep schools open, safe and fit for purpose.”