Free Schools in the media

Tes editor Ann Mroz said: “It is always a highlight of the education calendar to see the best ideas and people lauded at the Tes Schools Awards. But this year, it felt more important than ever to run an event that showcased and celebrated the hard work that teachers and school staff do for children and their local community every single day. This has been one of the most difficult years in education, but – as ever – teachers continue to rise to the challenge.

Established in Newham in 2012, LAE’s vision and core purpose is to promote social and economic mobility through education by supporting students in one of the most deprived parts of the UK to secure places on competitive degree courses at top universities. Eight years on, LAE continues to do just that!

You completed your PGCE at Homerton in 2002. What has your career trajectory been since then?

I initially did middle school training, specialising in Maths. I had previously done a psychology degree and had run activity groups for children with learning difficulties for years. I could not imagine not working with children in some capacity, and when I started teaching in primary schools, I fell in love with how creative you were able to be.

Schools that are opening next month that were supported by NSN include:

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Hoe Valley School in Woking was delighted to open its doors this morning to provide its founding cohort of students with their GCSE results. Many Woking residents will remember the build up to the School opening as news of the new Free School spread. This has been a year like no other, but especially for Hoe Valley School seeing its first students through to their GCSEs. Following the nationwide lockdown, it was wonderful to be able to share their results with them in person, socially distanced of course!

Having received their results, students commented:

“I had a pit in my stomach which has now been completely filled.” said Shaun Hennell.

“I feel alright.” said Rupert Dale.

“I was nervous but now I’m really happy.” added Katie Evans. 

The school, which opened with its first Year 7 pupils in 2014, is delighted to announce that its second ever set of results show a significant improvement on the previous year. This outcome aligns with the upward trajectory anticipated by the school as it becomes more established.

Of note, the number of pupils achieving grades 9 to 4 in both English and mathematics rose to 85% from 78% in 2019. 80% achieved 5 standard passes including English and mathematics, up from 70%.

Delighted pupils were invited to collect their results from 9.00am on 20th August and their hard work and efforts certainly paid off, despite the national changes to the way that GCSE results were derived this year as a result of school closures. While league tables have not been published this academic year, Year 11 pupils at the school achieved exceptional results, which, in ordinary circumstances, firmly places the school well above average compared to other schools both locally and nationally.

• We have seven pupils going to Oxford and Cambridge to study subjects including Natural Sciences, Music, History, Geography, Classics, Politics and Japanese.
• 80 out of the 90 applicants have currently secured a university place, most of whom have their Firm or Insurance Offer, despite the recent exams debacle.
• 47% of the cohort are going to a Russell Group university.