Stories + Views: Free Schools

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Francis Gilbert: New research shows that free schools are not recruiting minority and disadvantaged students

On the day that marks the mid-term for the Coalition government, it was instructive to read some research conducted by Findings from Race on the Agenda (ROTA) which shows that free schools are not recruiting students from the most deprived backgrounds. ROTA do not appear to be against the free school policy per se, but are anxious that the programme should make ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Free Schools are not recruiting minority and ‘disadvantaged students’* «Seyi's thoughts on education Seyi's thoughts on education: "[...] London School Network: Francis Gilbert’s article: http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2012/11/new-research-shows-that-free-schools-are-not-recruitin... [...]..."

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Sally Davenport: Hogwarts Vs Toby Young’s West London Free School…Battle of the Fantasies?

I take it you, (like the thousands of others), read, ‘Is Toby ‘FrankenFreeSchoolstein’ Young Destined for PM Gove’s Ministry for Silly Education?’ If not, you can find it here. Many discussions arose from this article, of which several frivolous comments punctured my psyche. Probably not what you would expect as they concerned the long gowns worn by the West London Free ... read more and comment →

96 comments

Latest comment by Nasmyth: "Harry Potter was born with a gift he inherited from his parents, while his friends had to work for their success. He is an empty hero for children. Nice children's fantasy books, to be sure, but nothing more. Enough with polarised ......"

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Sally Davenport: Is Toby ‘FrankenFreeSchoolstein’ Young Destined for P.M. Gove’s Ministry of Silly Education?

Okay, I’m sorry. The question might spoil your appetite and leave you nauseous. But is it really that far-fetched? My concerns stem from an alleged overheard conversation by a friend who had to endure a tête-à-tête on public transport between two apparently well-informed Tories. So I suppose you should take all this with a pinch of salt and sincerely hope its ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Mr Chas - the 9 applications for every place figure can only be upheld if every single mention of WLFS in the list of preferences is counted. The Independent found that about 250 parents put the WLFS down as ......"

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Janet Downs: “Managing potential over-supply” will create more headaches for LAs than providing more school places, says DfE/LAG report

Local Authorities (LAs) have a statutory duty to manage a potential surplus of schools places but managing this possible over-supply is a source of great anxiety, says a report commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Local Government Association (LGA). The ability of LAs to manage the number of school places locally is hampered by Government policy which encourages ... read more and comment →

31 comments

Latest comment by agov: "But Sarah was making quite a specific point about the supply of school places and their cost. Is there any other area of government where you think it's a good idea to throw money like confetti and wait to see what ......"

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Janet Downs: LAs face challenges in ensuring a sufficient future supply of school places, says DfE/LGA report

Local authorities (LAs) have a statutory duty to ensure a sufficient number of school places. This is usually done by studying birth data and other information such as planning to decide on possible future demand. In the past, extra places could be provided either by persuading existing schools to expand their pupil admission number (PAN) or by building a new school. ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by agov: "Okay, thank you Sarah (- I just like to check the small print!)...."

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Allan Beavis: Coventry: What happens when a Local Authority is prevented from opening and running new schools

The madness of divorcing local authorities from local schools is once again thrown into sharp relief by this report in The Guardian, which describes how Coventry City Council, having secured funding and land for two new primary schools, is now scrapping the plans after apparently discovering that new schools have to be opened as Academies or Free Schools and ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Ricky - you are correct about John Major securing the greatest number of popular votes than any other premier before or since. Surprising, then, that he should have received so much poisonous vitriol from the right-wing (Murodch) press. This is ......"

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Janet Downs: Government spin re academies is not supported by DfE report. Is this why the report has not been publicised?

The recent Department for Education (DfE) report into the effectiveness of the City Challenge programme found it was difficult to isolate factors which lead to school improvement. But the Government insist that the only way to improve school results is academy conversion, by force or intimidation if necessary. But the Evaluation of the City Challenge Programme said: “More radical approaches to ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by William: "'The main question is: does the Swedish experience show that for-profit schools – and choice in general – have a deleterious impact on education? The short answer is no, and here is why. Firstly, Courtney cites Sweden’s PISA record, which is ......"

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LocalSchoolsNetwork: Free School to Exclude Poorer Children Nearby

This article is reproduced with permission from the No to Kings School, Hove web site. It describes how the decision of the school to base its catchment area on its original site (2.5 miles from the current one) excludes the local poorer community:   At last night’s King’s School prospective parent evening at Aldrington School, the King’s team admitted that the chances ... read more and comment →

110 comments

Latest comment by Ben Taylor: "Yes I think that if the figures are correct that the secondary figure is about 32% versus that reported by TY of 28%. 32% also agrees with one of the DfE figures. It's still not a bad effort from WLFS and ......"

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Janet Downs: Gove at the Tory Confererence – a lacklustre speech and a new look

Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, took a traditional swipe at teaching unions at the Tory Party conference saying that ideology was holding back children because, among other things, unions objected to teachers spending time photocopying. The idea that teachers’ time might be more profitably spent on professional rather than mundane administrative tasks doesn’t seem to have occurred to ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Will: "'....according to Lord Adonis, a schools minister under Labour, is reform. He said: “For 15 years, London has been the pathfinder for school reform.” He praised Teach First..... He noted that London’s weak schools were placed under new management – the academy ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Should universities run state schools?

I appeared last night on a panel at the Conservative Party Fringe chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham, Professor David Eastwood, with the other guests being Times Education Editor, Greg Hurst, Kevin Courtney of the NUT,  and Professor Edward Peck, also from Birmingham University. Both Peck and Eastwood convened the panel largely because they wanted to highlight the merits of the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Melissa Benn: "Yes I have caught up with this post rather late. But it is clearly part of a new development where 'successful' institutions create free schools - and there is an element of selection involved. Someone needs to do some ......"

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