The New Schools Network is a national education charity that was set up in 2009 to improve educational opportunities for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. A huge part of this work has been supporting the creation of free schools in England.
Following the introduction of free schools into the education system in 2010 we worked with hundreds of communities, teachers, school trusts, social entrepreneurs and others to open new state schools across England – many of them in areas of significant deprivation and low educational standards.
The New Schools Network acted as an interface between those starting free schools and the government, we were able to help build the capacity for change in communities around the country and help Ministers and officials improve how the policy was delivered.
Legislation is currently going through parliament that restricts the freedoms that free schools and academies have.
School leaders have spoken out against measures that attempt to make a “one size fits all” school model and threaten innovation and school standards.
The Government are reviewing 44 of the projects in the mainstream free school pipeline.
We worry that this review will stop innovative projects that will improve educational standards, especially for disadvantaged pupils.
