On Saturday I set off on the train to London to attend the conference being run by the New Schools Network for groups such as ours intending to set up a Free School. As warned by a series of emails the event was heavily oversubscribed and sure enough the large conference hall was indeed packed to the gunwales .
Rachel Wolfe, Director of the New Schools Network promised us that although the requirements for submitting a proposal to open a Free School had become more demanding it was perfectly possible and we should not be daunted. Speakers who have already got through the first (less demanding) round of applications were able to enlighten us to the ease with which they had managed to secure their place in the race to be one of the few Free Schools due to open in the coming months.
Some of the audience expressed frustration that the process is now indeed more arduous and also struggled to grasp some of the detail of inter-related issues such as roles and responsibilities of school leaders, Governors and the Board of Trustees plus the mechanism for morphing a company limited by guarantee (the latter is now a prerequisite of the initial proposal),into Trust status. Questions were asked about funding for both capital and revenue streams, admissions plus appointments of school leaders and whether a 'Principal Designate' can also be a Trustee. The answer to the latter was yes!
I attended the SEND workshop in the afternoon provided by Brian Lamb. This was more aimed at informing would be Free Schoolers of their statutory duties towards pupils who have special educational needs or disabilities. I had hoped it would provide some enlightenment about policy regarding the establishment of Free Special Schools and was disappointed. I did discover however, that there will be another event for groups such as ourselves wishing to set up a Special form of Free School and that the New Schools Network still do not know when the Forms for Special Free Schools will be issued, even though publicity earlier in March promised they would be released on 17th March. Still we wait in hope and expectation.
A number of other attendees and I agreed though that the lunch was excellent.
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