SCHOOLS these days try to be firmly rooted in the local community, and none more so than the state-of-the-art St Catharine’s Academy on the Harwood-Breightmet border.
The former Withins School may have had a chequered past but it has a stunning present and an optimistic future, which is easy to gauge as soon as you walk into the impressive reception hall and through its many facilities.
The Academy held a special Partnership Dinner last week to highlight the various organisations which use its facilities, and it was quite an eye-opener. They ranged from swimming schools to music specialists, from a trampolining club to talented footballers, and they each spoke eloquently about the difference being at St Catharine’s Academy had made.
It’s an uphill struggle for any school these days in our competitive education system, but these practical groups spoke volumes about how successfully this particular one is anchored in the community and involved with local people.