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Jubilant Castle Hall celebrates victory in closure battle...
PARENTS, students and teachers were celebrating this week after campaigners won a 16-month battle to save a Mirfield school from closure.
The threat of the axe was finally lifted from Castle Hall School after the Mirfield community mobilised en masse against Kirklees Council.
Education chiefs pressed ahead with closure plans forcing campaigners to hire a lawyer and launch an appeal in front of an independent adjudicator.
The appeal was heard last month and on Tuesday adjudicator Canon Richard Lindley announced that the school would stay open.
His decision is final and there is no further right of appeal.
Parents’ pressure group Retain Education At Castle Hall (REACH) led the campaign and chairman Karen Rowling said: “I can’t describe how I feel.
“We always knew we would win but it’s been a hard fight.”
Vice-chairman Alan Wilkinson said their confidence was not just bravado and added: “We knew we had right on our side and if there was any justice we would win.”
Kirklees Council earmarked Castle Hall for closure - and neighbouring Mirfield Free Grammar for a near 50 per cent expansion - when the Tories were in control.
The Tories later backed down in the face of opposition but were ousted by the Lib Dems and Labour, who pushed ahead with the closure under the £200 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) shake-up.
The BSF plan for the rest of North Kirklees must now be in jeopardy.
Some 1,200 people turned out over two nights to show their support and the sheer weight of public opinion impressed Canon Lindley.
In his verdict Canon Lindley said there was “almost unanimous” opposition from both Castle Hall and MFG and across the community and that spoke volumes.
Castle Hall is the highest-performing non-selective secondary in Kirklees based on GCSE results and that proved the council’s big error.
Chairman of governors Brian Nicholson said: “BSF was never about buildings, it was about improving education and offering new ideas in the curriculum.
“Castle Hall is a successful, well-loved school - children look forward to getting up in a morning and coming to school - and that’s the terrible misjudgment Kirklees made.”
The council’s Labour Cabinet is now licking its wounds and education chief Coun Ken Smith said they needed to spend time considering the adjudicator’s report.
“We’ll now take stock of our position and have discussions with officers and members before making an announcement about the next steps,” he said.
Have your say on this! -- Have a Story? Contact the Editor
Jubilant Castle Hall celebrates victory in closure battle...
PARENTS, students and teachers were celebrating this week after campaigners won a 16-month battle to save a Mirfield school from closure.
The threat of the axe was finally lifted from Castle Hall School after the Mirfield community mobilised en masse against Kirklees Council.
Education chiefs pressed ahead with closure plans forcing campaigners to hire a lawyer and launch an appeal in front of an independent adjudicator.
The appeal was heard last month and on Tuesday adjudicator Canon Richard Lindley announced that the school would stay open.
His decision is final and there is no further right of appeal.
Parents’ pressure group Retain Education At Castle Hall (REACH) led the campaign and chairman Karen Rowling said: “I can’t describe how I feel.
“We always knew we would win but it’s been a hard fight.”
Vice-chairman Alan Wilkinson said their confidence was not just bravado and added: “We knew we had right on our side and if there was any justice we would win.”
Kirklees Council earmarked Castle Hall for closure - and neighbouring Mirfield Free Grammar for a near 50 per cent expansion - when the Tories were in control.
The Tories later backed down in the face of opposition but were ousted by the Lib Dems and Labour, who pushed ahead with the closure under the £200 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) shake-up.
The BSF plan for the rest of North Kirklees must now be in jeopardy.
Some 1,200 people turned out over two nights to show their support and the sheer weight of public opinion impressed Canon Lindley.
In his verdict Canon Lindley said there was “almost unanimous” opposition from both Castle Hall and MFG and across the community and that spoke volumes.
Castle Hall is the highest-performing non-selective secondary in Kirklees based on GCSE results and that proved the council’s big error.
Chairman of governors Brian Nicholson said: “BSF was never about buildings, it was about improving education and offering new ideas in the curriculum.
“Castle Hall is a successful, well-loved school - children look forward to getting up in a morning and coming to school - and that’s the terrible misjudgment Kirklees made.”
The council’s Labour Cabinet is now licking its wounds and education chief Coun Ken Smith said they needed to spend time considering the adjudicator’s report.
“We’ll now take stock of our position and have discussions with officers and members before making an announcement about the next steps,” he said.
Have your say on this! -- Have a Story? Contact the Editor
