THE strict admissions policy at high-achieving Crompton House School was slammed as ''divisive'' in the Ritchie Report.

But bosses at the over-subscribed Church of England school in Shaw - where pupils have to prove they regularly attend a Christian church before being offered a place - have already started to build bridges between communities.

Governors at the school are considering changes to their admissions policy, which could lead to pupils from all cultural and religious backgrounds taking up a proportion of places at the school from September 2003.

And even as the report was published yesterday youngsters from the school were sharing their classrooms with pupils from nearby Hathershaw Technology College - where 35 per cent of pupils belong to an ethnic minority - as part of an initiative designed to boost standards and break down barriers.

Benefits

''We think there are huge benefits to be gained by mixing socially and culturally,'' said David Bowes, headteacher at Crompton House, which has a more relaxed admissions policy for sixth formers.

The partnership scheme has been running for around 15 months, and on three occasions pupils have travelled to each others' schools for joint lessons.

Clive Edney, headteacher at Hathershaw Technology College, says the scheme goes some way to bringing together the ''parallel lives'' that have been used to describe the separate communities in Oldham.

He said: ''They are getting to know each other socially and that doesn't happen often in this town.''

In the Ritchie Report, Crompton House was one of three of the town's church schools - alongside The Blue Coat CE School and Our Lady's RC - to be highlighted for their failure to have a single Muslim pupil.

The report described admissions at the schools as ''divisive'' and recommended that between 15 and 20 per cent of intake at the schools should come from non-Christian backgrounds.

Integration

Mr Bowes says governors at his own school have already started to consider changing the admissions policy.

He said: ''The governors have set up a working party looking at the prospect of offering places to other faiths.''

At Our Lady's governors also intend to review their admissions policy, which demands all pupils are baptised Catholics.

Ken Pleasant, headteacher at The Blue Coat School, says the admissions policy is reviewed annually and will be looked at once admissions for next year are complete.

Elsewhere in the Ritchie Report there are recommendations that there should be greater emphasis on raising attainment of ethnic minority pupils.

The report also recommends that £6.4m of unspent school cash should be spent on integration.

It says the Oldham Schools Linking Project, which brings together pupils from different primary schools, should be supported by an annual £30,000 from the government.

The report says parents have a responsibility to ensure children start school speaking enough English for lessons to be conducted in English.