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Tri-ing to save school
2/ 8/2007
A YOUNG athlete who swam to success at the Salford Triathlon was racing to save St George's from closure - much to the embarrassment of the council claims the school's headteacher.
Aimee Backhouse, 15, was recently appointed head girl at St George's RC High School in Walkden, which has been earmarked for closure under Salford City Council's Building Schools for the Future programme.
The accomplished triathlete finished second overall in the sprint triathlon race on Sunday, July 29, wearing a T-shirt lobbying the council to keep the school open.
Her podium appearance after completing the 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run in just 68 minutes ensured maximum publicity for Aimee's campaign, when she wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, 'Salford Council Don't Close St George's'.
Aimee, who has just been offered a place to train with the elite triathletes and trains for 14 hours every week, said: "I was racing to save my school, and I had a sign asking the council not to close it on my t-shirt.
"It's such a good school, and it is really unfair to close it down. Because it is such a small school, everybody knows each other and looks out for each other.
"All the staff and students are really friendly, and most people who go there do really well at the school. That's why I don't want it to close.
"I tried to use the success of the triathlon to highlight what I see as a failure of the council in their decision to shut the school."
Philip Harte, headteacher of the Walkden school, said that he was incredibly proud of what 15-year-old Aimee had achieved.
He said: "We should remember that Aimee's success is a remarkable personal achievement and it's been a dream of hers for many, many years to compete in the Salford triathlon, and she has absolutely excelled."
Mr Harte said that Aimee's t-shirt will serve as a further embarrassment to the council.
He said: "What is ironic though, is that when Salford are promoting excellence, they are shown up by the bad decisions that they are making on their own doorsteps in terms of St George's."
Salford City Council leader, Councillor John Merry, said: "The Salford triathlon was a great success for the city and it seems a great shame to make it political in this way.
"But what I would like to say is that we certainly don't regard closing St George's as a failure. We are not going to close the school this year, so in a way, it doesn't really affect Aimee, as we will not be closing 'her school'.
"I would, of course, be delighted to meet with Aimee and her parents to talk the decision through with them."
Most recent 2 of 4 user comments
One should remember that the Cathedral in Salford (which includes Worsley, where St Georges is) is a RC School and that local investment in these schools has been falling rapidly. To the point where Three High Schools have become a Business and Enterprise College (Supported by a Trust) on One Site with the other two either being sold off by council for other purposes. One wonders then if either the Manchester Bishopric would allow such action to take place if a C of E High School would face the Axe?
7/08/2007 at 12:04
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7/08/2007 at 18:34