A TRANS-PENNINE partnership launched in January has proved so successful it is set to continue for at least another year.

Yorkshire-based Calderdale College has been operating adult community classes at Fearns High School, Rossendale, since the start of the year.

These have proved so popular that organisers are expecting a massive increase in student numbers from September, when a new session starts.

Rossendale councillor David Baron, chairman of Fearns High governors and of the Fearns dual-use scheme committee, said: "The project has been superbly successful.

"When Calderdale College first approached us to run this type of class we anticipated about a hundred to a hundred and fifty students per week attending on three nights.

"We have ended up with six hundred and have had to extend opening to four nights a week as a result.

"The most popular courses have been in information technology. "We have three classrooms in the IT block which between them accommodate sixty people. These are full four nights a week.

"Modern languages such as French and Spanish have proved equally popular."

Coun Baron said some classes would continue throughout the summer but the main recruitment would be for the start of the next academic year in September.

He said Calderdale College first branched out from its Yorkshire base to offer adult education classes in Rochdale.

So many people from Bacup and Whitworth had attended those classes that the college decided to offer a similar project in Rossendale.

He added: "The main attraction of these classes is that they are free.

"The college is funded for our students by the Further Education Funding Council and we get a fee for use of our facilities.

"All the students are local so everyone benefits."

Coun Baron said the school had not ruled out a similar partnership with a Lancashire college but Calderdale had shown the first initiative.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.