Rescue Our Schools: Focus on free schools and grammar schools

From Rescue Our Schools

Rescue Our Schools - Families & communities standing up for state education

Dear Supporters,

For this, our 5th newsletter, we have decided to focus on Free Schools.

Did you know that local authorities are no longer permitted to open new schools maintained by them?
All new schools must either be academies (often set up by chains or MATs) or so-called "Free Schools". It seems they are costing us tax payers rather a lot...

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/2bn-fund-revealed-for-dfe-free-school-property-company/

Free Schools

Free schools have been hitting the headlines again, and not for good reasons. Last week the founder and former head of Kings Science Academy Bradford (one of the first wave of free schools in 2011), along with two staff, was convicted of fraudulently obtaining £150,000 from grants relating to the set up of the school. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36943526

Then it was revealed that the Michaela Free School  have a policy of putting pupils into lunchtime isolation if their parents have not paid their (compulsory) lunch bill. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3713583/Superhead-claimed-Britain-s-education-broken-puts-pupils-detention-lunch-restricts-food-parents-failed-pay-school-meals.html

Add to these clear examples of poor practice growing concerns about how much these additional free schools cost and that the whole programme is not living up to the claims that were made for it.

If there is a free school planned in your area, please look carefully at what is proposed, whether it is really needed, and what impact it might have on existing schools. Rescue Our Schools would like more focus on meeting the needs of existing schools than on extending choice for some at the expense of the system overall.

For more information about free schools and some of the problems associated with them, have a look at the Local Schools Network (www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk) or SchoolsWeek (www.schoolsweek.co.uk )

Will it be back-to-academy rather than back-to-school for your kids?

One of our followers has written a piece for our website about how she feels following the conversion of her children's primary school to an academy.

http://www.rescueourschools.co.uk/news/2016/8/9/my-kids-school-is-converting-so-how-does-this-make-me-feel

If you have a state education story that you'd like to share with us and/or our followers, please do drop us a line: info@rescueourschools.co.uk.

Grammar Schools

By all accounts our new Prime Minister, Teresa May, is now considering lifting the long-standing ban on new grammar schools. This is a controversial issue, already triggering much debate. Read Rescue Our School's press release on the subject here: http://www.rescueourschools.co.uk/

What do you think? Do you agree with us that selection means rejection for most pupils? We'd love to hear from you.

Calling all fundraisers and creatives !

Rescue Our Schools is looking for an experienced fundraiser and creatives to volunteer to help raise money so that we can launch some exciting new projects.

Please get in touch if you'd like to join our team! info@rescueourschools.co.uk

Keep spreading the word

We are keen for as many people as possible to know about what's happening to our state education system. If you are on social media, our Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of updates. Why not sign up, like our page or follow us? And if you have already, maybe you could ask your friends to do the same and subscribe to these newsletters? Or you could spark up a conversation with other parents you know? The more people who know about the peril are schools are in, the better.

Twitter: @RescueSchools