Hundreds of parents and children flocked to Whitcliffe Mount’s Open Day last Saturday. The school was open from 9.30 in the morning and finally closed its doors 6 hours later. The school hall was packed for each of 3 presentations which included an audio / visual.  This showed a successful school; judged by an Ofsted report in […]

The new Whitechapel Road bridge over the M62 has re-opened! It was opened today at 10 am by representatives from local schools who have been particularly affected by the  bridge closure. Lots of other residents, engineers, project managers and the vicars of Scholes and Cleckheaton were there to celebrate the opening. All three local councillors […]

Whitcliffe Mount school is open on Saturday July 9 from 9.30 – 2.30 for parents and children, especially in the current years 5 and 6. This is a very good opportunity for parents and children to see the facilities on offer and speak to staff and governors about the opportunities available. Whitcliffe Mount has served […]

The 24th Cleckheaton Folk Festival was a huge success. Hundreds of people lined the streets on Saturday morning to watch the Parade. Congratulations and thank you to all the volunteers who work hard all year to put on this great Festival  in our town.

Good news! The Kirklees Music School have agreed to keep the Cleckheaton and Batley Music Centres open at least until the end of the year. The announcement by KMS followed a packed meeting of parents attended by Cllr Andrew Pinnock and myself with the head of KMS and the chair of the Board of Trustees. […]

Parents from the Batley & Cleckheaton Music Centres packed a meeting at Whitcliffe Mount on Saturday morning. Thom Meredith, the Principal of the Kirklees Music School, and Nina Garforth, the Chair of the KMS Board, were there to listen to the concerns of parents about the proposed closure of both the Batley and Cleckheaton Music Centres. […]

Whitcliffe Mount had its Ofsted inspection in May. The inspectors report was published last week and confirms what all those involved with the school knew: it is a “good, and improving, school”. The Inspectors particularly praised the behaviour of the students and the quality of the curriculum which was described as excellent. Below is the […]

I have been told today that the independent Kirklees Music School Trust have decided to close the Cleckheaton Music Centre from the end of this summer term.  The reasons given are the fall in numbers attending. To be viable, each centre needs around 200 children to attend but, sadly, Cleckheaton has only around 40 – 50. The […]

The Birkenshaw Group (all Tory activists), who want an unnecessary so-called “free” high school in Birkenshaw, have been told that they CANNOT consider having a school in 2012. This decision by the Government is a major blow to the Group who have been campaigning hard for a 2012 date. This decision also calls into question the validity of […]

The small committee that is promoting a so-called free school in Birkenshaw are all active Tories. At the count of the votes for the local election, there they all were with large blue rosettes. Schools have always maintained a non party political stance: and rightly so. Parents will be anxious about sending their children to a […]