| Almondbury is a school of 850 pupils, situated on the eastern edge of Huddersfield. Once upon a time the village of Almondbury was bigger and more important than Huddersfield. People now visit Almondbury to climb up Castle Hill which dominates the landscape for miles around, providing excellent views. The Brigantes had a hillfort here from which they could occasionally annoy the Romans, there was a castle here in medieval times and now there is a pub and the tower, built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Well, Almondbury has certainly changed since the days of the Brigantes and now its High School has been judged to be a focal point for its surrounding community. OFSTED inspectors visiting the school have said: "Pupils take seriously the school's motto 'Together We Achieve' and most make positive contributions to the life of the school and the wider community." For the last 12 years students from Turnshaws School in Kirkburton, the focus of the BBC Voices venture in West Yorkshire, have been going in and out of Almondbury High School on a very regular basis. Michael Nolan is Headteacher at Almondbury. He says: "I believe that our link with Turnshaws has been enormously beneficial to our children. Every Friday the Turnshaws children arrive in our school to work, eat and socialise with us. I would like to think that the Turnshaws children get something from being with us for the day." "This has given our students the opportunities to be aware of and care for others. These opportunities are vital in the life of a secondary schools as our children are growing and sorting out their role in the world." Last year pupils Tracey Bancroft and Kelly Bartholemew from year 9 were nominated for a Gold Community Award in recognition of time and effort spent helping out with activities during these visits. The pupils at Almondbury will be offering their expertise to the Voices initiative to help make the new relationship between Shelley High and Turnshaws a success. | 
