Free schools in the Media

Speeches were also given by Charlie Clapham (Head Boy), William Shipp (Deputy Head Boy), Jessica Ward (Junior Head Girl) and Yanis Osmali (Junior Head Boy), who spoke eloquently and with great pride about their new facilities and their experiences of the journey to develop the school. Founding proposers: Julia Rangasamy (trustee); Rafil Khatib (trustee); Howard Morris (Chair of Governors) and Michaela Khatib (Executive Head) also spoke, alongside Ian Edwards (Director) from Willmott Dixon.

The research, commissioned to mark ten years since the first free schools were approved to open, covers pupil attainment, popularity with parents, and teacher workforce.

Findings show free schools are the top performing type of school at GCSE; that 16-19 free schools are the highest performing post-16 providers; that free schools are more popular with parents than the closest neighbouring schools; and that free schools are more likely to be rated Outstanding by Ofsted.

The Secretary of State for Education has decided that Dixons’ application to establish a free school in Manchester should proceed to the ‘pre-opening’ phase. This is a significant step towards opening the school.

“We are delighted that our free school in Manchester will proceed to the pre-opening phase.  We already run six highly successful free schools, achieving some of the best results in the country.  We now want to bring the same success to Manchester.

Deborah, Nicholas and Nuno visited Langley Hall to witness what the school does best within its Music Department and to offer their unconditional support and testimonial towards the opening of Langley Hall’s new Music Academy in January 2021.

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: