Faith schools, specialist provision for children with autism and a “dementia-friendly” primary in Devon are among the latest wave of free schools to be announced by David Cameron. More than 400 free schools have now been approved since the policy was launched in 2010, creating more than 230,000 places across the country.
A diverse list of 49 further new free schools, which are mainly due to open in September 2016, includes:
All-through schools, which combine primary and secondary education in single institutions, where a pupil can be enrolled at three or four – or even younger – and can stay on until 19.
Northampton International Academy, which is being built on the site of a former Royal Mail sorting office, will eventually have 2,200 pupils aged from two or three to 19. Likewise, City Gates, a new free school with a Christian ethos approved for Redbridge, north-east London, will teach four- to 16-year-olds a traditional academic curriculum.
Faith schools are well represented on the latest list to be approved, including Muslim, Hindu and Church of England faith schools. The Tauheedul Trust, which runs a network of successful Muslim faith schools, will open primary schools in Bolton, Greater Manchester, Preston and Birmingham.
The Avanti Schools Trust, which runs four schools, will open a new Hindu faith primary for 420 pupils in Croydon in September 2016.
And for the Christian faith, there is a new Church of England primary in Tonbridge, Kent; the Runnymede school with a Christian ethos in Chertsey, Surrey, and a Church of England secondary school in Swindon.
Specialising for children with autism is the Wherry School in Norfolk, a new all-through special school that will cater for 100 autistic pupils, providing personalised teaching and removing barriers to learning.
Heartlands autism school in Haringey, north London, is a special school for 104 four- to 19-year-olds with autistic spectrum disorder that will work with local employers to ensure that pupils acquire life skills as well as academic qualifications.
Bristol autism free school will be the city’s first all-through provision for students with autistic spectrum conditions, providing 49 primary places and 35 secondary places in response to growing local demand.
Alternative provision free schools, which offer education outside mainstream schools, also feature prominently. Among them is the Campus in Haringey which will teach 30 11-to-16-year-olds who are either subject to court orders or have recently been released from custody.
The Boxing academy is currently an alternative provision independent school in Hackney, east London, but will open as a free school in September 2016, offering a boxing discipline-based ethos, with boxing mentors to help students achieve.
Sunderland football club is backing a new alternative provision school for 90 teenagers who have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion from mainstream schools. It will use sport to inspire them back into education.
Other interesting projects include a primary school in Waltham Forest that will offer children an “11B411” promise of 11 life-enriching experiences before the age of 11; a Southall primary, which puts “character education” at the heart of its curriculum; and a new free school in Kingsteignton, Devon, will do everything that a good primary school should, but will also be “dementia friendly”, making links with residents in the community affected by dementia and encouraging children to lead healthy lives.
