'Free schools' get green light
Tuesday September 7, 2010
Two of the UK’s first 16 ‘free schools’ will be in Hammersmith & Fulham, according to a Government announcement today.
It is possible that a third school on the list will also be sited in the borough, putting H&F right at the front of the push to give parents and teachers more control over children’s education.
Free schools, set up by Education Secretary Michael Gove earlier this year, allow any group, from charities to parents and businesses, to start a school free from local authority control and which will not have to follow the national curriculum.
Among those given the go-ahead to move to the next stage of the application process are Burlington primary in White City and the Rivendale Free School, planned for Shepherds Bush.
ARK Academies, which already runs Burlington Danes Academy in Du Cane Road, is working with the North Hammersmith Parent Group to set up the Burlington Primary Academy on the former Wormholt library site. Rivendale Free School would be in Shepherd's Bush, but a suitable site has yet to be found. It would have no religious ethos and the group behind it hope that it will offer an alternative to the area's faith schools for children of non-faith or multi-faith backgrounds.
In addition, a group of parents from Acton and Shepherds Bush, including journalist Toby Young, have been given approval for their plans for a comprehensive secondary school in west London. Again no site has been confirmed, but it could be either side of the border with Ealing.
Critics have said that the number of free schools to reach this stage is disappointingly low. But Mr Gove said more than 700 groups had initially expressed interest in the idea, and about 100 had applied.
He added: “The enthusiasm of London's teachers, parents and community groups for starting schools is inspiring. These are just the first and I know there will be more to come. Soon London will have a new generation of state schools run by teachers, not politicians, giving all parents what currently only the rich can afford — small class sizes, strong discipline and high-quality teaching.”
Critics have also claimed that free schools will only be set up in wealthy areas and drain resources from existing schools, a point rejected as demonstrably untrue by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
“There is a national shortage of primary school places and this is particularly acute in the north of the borough,” says the council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Helen Binmore. The council is throwing its weight behind local free schools precisely because they offer the chance to provide hundreds of new places, serving some of our most deprived neighbourhoods.
“Above all we are keen to promote greater choice for parents and to reduce the number who currently choose to educate their children outside the borough.”
Lucy Heller, managing director of Ark schools, which is bidding for the Burlington primary, said: “It would be hard to see what the objection is. Across London and the country, there’s a pressing need for primary places. Teachers should welcome this.”
All 16 organisations will now start work on a detailed business plan and could open by September next year.
