Eton College and Greater Manchester schools' 'incredible exchanges of experience' as new sixth form is set up

Staff from Eton College have been visiting Oldham on a "fact-finding mission" to learn from local teachers ahead of the elite boarding school setting up a sixth form in the town.

Jessica Giraud, headteacher at The Oldham Academy North (TOAN), says her school has already formed a "wonderful partnership" with the elite private school in Berkshire which has produced 19 Prime Ministers and is the alma mater of Prince William.

In August the Government gave approval for the expansion of Eton to open a co-educational sixth form college for 480 students in the centre of Oldham, in conjunction with state school trust Star Academies.

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And Ms Giraud said the secondary school in the Royton area of Oldham is at the "vanguard" of the work Eton is already doing to establish links with local schools.

She has written a piece for The Northern Agenda politics newsletter with Sean Costello, head of educational opportunities, Eton College, which says teachers from different parts of the country "have way more in common than that which divides them".

It says: "Of course, many will be aware of Eton’s plans to open a new sixth form college in Oldham town centre with Star Academies (a wonderful state school trust based in Blackburn), but you might be surprised to read that Eton is already working with lots of schools in the area – and TOAN is at the vanguard of this work.

"We have discovered wonderful levels of common cause as staff from both Eton and Oldham have come together to share best practice in the classroom and in pastoral