On Thursday 26th April, Bilingual Primary School (BPS) in Brighton & Hove welcomed leaders from open and pre-open free schools around the country as part of a NSN Spotlight event. BPS opened in 2012 and currently has 460 children on role. When full, the school will maintain three-forms of entry from Reception through to Year 6. Rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2016, the school offers a Spanish-English curriculum at the cutting edge of bilingual education in the UK.
Free School News
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Wed 18 July 2018
A coherent application
The Department for Education (DfE) explicitly asks that applicants ensure their vision is reflected across the whole of the application. Free school applicant groups often struggle to develop an application that is one coherent document. Instead applicants write a series of individual sections that lack consistency with each other and do not present clear vision for the school they are proposing. It can be difficult when different members of the team are responsible for different sections of the application.
Free Schools in the media
Free Schools in the media
Fri 13 July 2018
This project is part of the long term strategic plan for the Branston Locks area of Burton on Trent. With increased housing and a changing demographic, it became apparent that additional secondary places would be required to meet demand. In April 2017, John Taylor Multi Academy Trust was designated as sponsor for the school. The successful partnership between all stakeholders has been one of the key strengths of this Free School development.
“It is really exciting as this is a flagship school for the county, the investors and ourselves”
Free Schools in the media
Free Schools in the media
Fri 13 July 2018
Five students from Eden Boys’ School in Bolton tried out teaching as part of their work experience. The group gained valuable insight into the teaching profession during their time at the Olive School in Blackburn. The students helped train the school cricket team and accompanied them to the Lancashire Youth Games in Blackpool.
Fri 13 July 2018
The new criteria for wave 13 states that a free school proposal must be located in one of the targeted districts identified as having low standards and low capacity to improve AND an area where there is basic need for a high proportion of the additional school places that the free school will create. If an application does not meet one of these two criteria to demonstrate need for a new free school, the DfE will stop assessing the application.
Free Schools in the media
Free Schools in the media
Fri 6 July 2018
Pupils at the Bromley-by-Bow secondary took the honours in the first heat of the Greenpower Challenge to build and race an eco-friendly small car. The students won ‘best newcomer’, ‘best presented’ and ‘best portfolio’ titles in the Formula 24 race staged at Ford Dunton technical centre near Brentwood on Saturday.
Thu 5 July 2018
One of the most significant updates to the wave 13 criteria is the Depart for Education’s interest in closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils. This requirement has been clearly echoed in their choice of targeted local authorities. New school cohorts are therefore likely to include high proportions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. So what does this focus on pupil cohort mean for free school applicants?
Free Schools in the media
Free Schools in the media
NSN welcomes the announcement that the University of Liverpool Mathematics College will open in 2020
Wed 4 July 2018
Last year, King’s College London Mathematics School placed at the top of The Times A level results table after students achieved 92% A* grade in mathematics, and 99% of all grades being A*-B grades. Almost a quarter of the school’s students gained a place at either Oxford or Cambridge, and over 90% secured a place at a Russell Group university.
