St. Luke’s Church of England School opened in September, one of the first ever Free Schools in England.
It joined 23 other primary, secondary and all-age schools which have been set up by education organisations, teachers, parents, community groups, faith groups, charities, existing schools, and Academy sponsors. They are part of the government’s drive to raise school standards across the country and tackle educational disadvantage. The story of the beginnings of St. Luke’s School was carried in the October 2010 EN.
Government funds
Free Schools are funded by the government, but have greater freedoms than local authority-run schools. They are run by teachers — not local councils or Westminster politicians — and have freedom over things like the length of the school day, the curriculum, and how they spend their money. They are not permitted to make a profit, and all funds raised must go back into improving education for pupils.
High standards
Schools Minister Lord Hill said: ‘I am delighted that St. Luke's Church of England School will give more parents in Camden the chance to send their child to a school with strong community links. Camden also has a real shortage of primary school places, so it is particularly good news that St. Luke's School has opened this year. I congratulate the parents behind St. Luke's School for their hard work and wish the school the very best for the future’.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said: ‘The most important thing for any parent is to be able to send their child to a good local school, with high standards and strong discipline. That is why we are opening Free Schools across the country. Too many children are being failed by fundamental flaws in our education system. The weakest schools are concentrated in our poorest towns and cities, and we are plummeting down the international education league tables’.
Robust process
Groups that were successful in applying to open a Free School went through a robust process to make sure they were suitable and capable to run a school. They had to:
* provide evidence of demand for a new local school;
* set out in detail the curriculum the school would offer, the type of teachers it would recruit, and how the school would run its pupil admissions to make sure they are fair;
* develop robust plans for how the school planned to run its finances (which then were scrutinised to make sure the school was financially viable);
* secure an appropriate site for the school that provided value for money for the taxpayer;
* be CRB checked and undergo in-depth vetting by the Department’s Due Diligence Unit.
Like other state-funded schools, Free Schools are inspected by Ofsted, will have their exam and test results published and will have to teach a broad curriculum. Action will be taken if results slip or if teaching isn’t up to scratch. Free Schools also have to abide by the same rules for pupil admissions as other schools — making sure that these are fair and inclusive of children from different backgrounds.
Penny Roberts, Chair of Governors at St. Luke’s, told EN: ‘The issue in our area is a dramatic shortage of school places: there are children who simply don’t have a school place. Our aim is to provide local places for children who may otherwise have to travel several miles. We hope to do better for children through our curriculum based on, but not limited by, the National Curriculum, e.g. we will teach Spanish throughout the school and develop a broad ranging arts programme’. She went on to say: ‘Our first few days have been very exciting and there is a great buzz. The teachers have made induction visits to children’s homes while the rest of the team set up classrooms’.
In total, the Free Schools which opened in September will provide around 9,000 new school places across the country.
The schools are spread out geographically, but are primarily concentrated in areas of deprivation, with half of the 24 schools located in the most deprived 30% of communities.
