Education and Young People

Protecting small schools

In many rural communities, small schools are an essential part of the local community. We would pledge to protect small schools that are performing well from closures or mergers.

Vocational training

We would ensure the Council promotes apprenticeships and vocational training. We would seek to open a skills centre in partnership with local businesses and manufactures to ensure we had a workforce that was trained for the future needs of our economy.

Improving key stage five education

Calderdale underperforms in terms of its KS5 education standards. We support the opening of a new sixth form college to help improve the education standards of students wishing to take A-Level courses within Calderdale.  We also recognise that different areas of Calderdale need local access to KS5 education, and would support any new college having a satellite site to cover the geography of the Borough.

Tackling the lack of diversity in schools

In Halifax, we have schools that are divided between White British communities and British Asian communities. We believe that this lack of diversity in our schools will lead to a more divided society. We will seek to work with schools on projects to address this issue and bring people from different cultural and religious backgrounds together as residents of Calderdale.

More funding for youth projects

We believe there should be more structured activities for young people to participate in across the Borough. We would seek to increase the number of youth workers to ensure our young people are supported into becoming happy, creative and constructive adults.