AIBU to feel that Free Schools are creaming off middle-class families and creating division?

[KeepOnRockinginthefreeworld]

Name change as I've been thinking about this for a while...

We have a Free School in our area. It's generally felt to be successful, has a waiting list, and plans to expand at some point. BUT while it was founded "to create extra spaces", its intake seems to mostly to consist of children poached from the surrounding schools (the remainder are bussed in by parents from miles away). The uniform is entirely bespoke from a private school supplier, so no Tesco items, it's about £300 plus for a full set.

Now, I totally get that Free schools are there for "choice" but my concern is that this seems to be selection-by-stealth: they are trumpetting it as a "naice" school, "better" and more privileged than the local community schools (which are perfectly OK) . The parents who transfer to them tend to be the ones with money for the uniform/aspirational for the "best" for their child, and those children have a much lower level of SEN and pupil premium .....it just seems unfair to me that children in the area whose parents have low income, multiple DC, or aren't pushy don't have the same opportunity within the state sector. Everyone has the right to a good education and the Free Schools just seem like an excuse for middle-class parents to remove themselves from the mix of intake that is in the community while getting subsidised to do so.

Can I ask AIBU by feeling uncomfortable about this segregation? Is this just peculiar to the free school in our area? Are there other free schools near you where the uniform is cheap, they aren't creaming off children from surrounding school, and all children from the area are genuinely welcomed irrespective of ability and income?

[PanicMode]

They may wish to scattergun and open as many Free Schools as they can, but the budget (and the groups to go through the process) just aren't there. It will be interesting to see how Ashmount pans out because it's not the message we've been getting from the DfE - it has been reported to us that the Minister won't sign off Funding Agreements for new FS if there are surplus places in the local area.

[nlondondad]

Well it seems that th DFE have been told by the company promoting the school on the old Ashmount site, that they have parental demand running at 120 per cent for a two form entry in 2014. The seems very odd to me as it implies something like a 26 percent increase in the local reception age population, which would be a big jump in a year, especially as figures from admissions this year show that numbers in Crouch End have actually fallen a bit for two consecutive years.

Can you say PanicMode how evidence of parental demand is collected?

[PanicMode]

We had to canvass all of the nurseries, doctor's surgeries, child start centres, have publicity days in the town centre, collect signatures, had a campaign in the local paper etc - basically did a huge amount of marketing to canvass local opinion and get people to either put pen to paper, or sign our statement of demand, with birthdates or dates of starting school. It was scrutinised before our first interview, at our Readiness for Opening meeting and before we got the final go ahead and ministerial sign off. We also had to show that going forward we would have demand. It's slightly easier for us as we are sitting on a housing development of over 300 houses and there are no school places in the locality and we are a small, single form entry primary, so it's obvious that there will be demand.

It is in our Funding Agreement (as I said), that if our numbers enrolled are below a certain percentage then the DfE/EFA can pull the funding - even very late in the day (a month before opening).....So they can say what they like, but they'll have to prove it!

[Lazyjaney]

The inconvenient truth is that middle class parents value education more, and will put a lot of energy into getting the best for their kids. Those that don't, won't.

[nlondondad]

@PanicMode

Thank you very much for an interesting response. In the case of the proposers of the Islingtonfreeprimaryschool (as they call it: that is what you need to google) there have been NONE of these activities. No one so far as I know in the community has actually met anyone from Bellevue Place Ltd. (Council officers have now, there was no contact with Islington of any kind before the announcement). If anyone on Mumsnet has experience of them I would love to hear...

[nlondondad]

@lazyjaney

1. That is a huge generalisation, and by its implication that only the middle classes want "the best for their kids', plain wrong.
   

1. And your point is what exactly?

[PanicMode]

@lazeyjaney

I think if you'd put 'motivated' parents instead of middle class, I may have agreed with you - other than that your argument proves that your username is somewhat apt! As nlondondad says, that's a massive generalisation and isn't borne out by those who have applied to our Free School - we have motivated parents from across the socio-economic spectrum.

[coco87]

Parvarti - In my ds's free school all the classes have 30 pupils. I don't know why you think they are 20 in free schools. Perhaps you are confusing free schools with private schools?

[nlondondad]

Some Free School projects have promised small class sizes, but I dont know whether any have succeeded, or if they have how they wish to pay for them. Its possible that some Free Schools are good at raising money from parents: nothing against that unless they start turning effectively into state subsidised independent schools, with an "expected" parental contribution......

[sorrelthemop]

The middle classes deserve better schools. They get sick of being stuck with the underachieving lower echelons who do nothing but moan about things 'not being fair'. Expecting their children to do well but don't own a single book and spend their time glued to X factor Being happy if they get into a second rate university to follow some second rate 'degree' course then moaning when all they can get is a job in McDonalds afterwards.

Middle class parents get sick of this and want segregation.

They need to bring back a nationwide grammar school system. Parents would stop being desperate to get their offspring into faith schools if this was the case.

Whatever they do they're criticised for it.

[nlondondad]

"middle class parents want segrgation from the lower achieving echelons" Why stop at schools, let us have more general segregation.

Of course we would still need to allow the lower echelons into our areas so they could do menial tasks, but we could have some kind of pass system for that. It would really be much kinder all around. We could call it "Seperate development".

I wonder why no one has ever thought of it before.

[PanicMode]

We are only going to have class sizes of 24 at our Free School - it can be done but we had to fight hard to prove it, and the budget will be very tight.....

[manicinsomniac]

The free school near me is opening with 20 in a class (secondary). I don't know how they are funding it but I assume it's not a temporary thing because it's one of their big selling points.

[sorrelthemop]

The comprehensive system has been such a roaring success hasn't it?

The people who care about their children's education go to extraordinary lengths to ensure they get into a decent school. They lie, rent, pretend to follow a religion, relocate, you name it. You know this goes on.

Give them what they want I say. Give the others some proper training or apprenticeships but don't let them drag everyone else down.

[Lazyjaney]

@nlondondad and @panicmode

I was answering the question the OP posed, which was about the middle class accessing free schools. Of course others can be motivated, but more middle class people are more motivated about education, so they disproportionately appear in naice schools. You're being naive if you are denying it. And it doesn't just apply to free schools.

[revealall]

sorrelthemop Think the Comprehensive system does better for the majority than the 11+/secondary modern system which was unfair to both girls and the poor.

I personally think we should be moving away from the idea of "educating" everyone in the academic sense. Everyone should be taught proper skills - languages, IT, getting up in the morning and working hard.

[feelokaboutit]

sorrelthemop maybe the kids you are so blithely confining to apprenticeships (how generous of you ) who "don't have any books at home" are the ones who are actually most in need of an academic environment, precisely because they are not getting enough intellectual stimulation at home. You will also find that many of the kids you are so contemptuous of are very bright and will thrive under the right circumstances. Good, socio-economically and culturally mixed schools also produce well-rounded individuals which other schools (grammar / private etc...) often do not.

[sorrelthemop]

Bollocks. Children need to be educated according to their abilities. Any child that does have ability, regardless of their socioeconomic background, should be identified and helped, but many bright children are being dragged down due to the current system. This is the system that the tenacious middle classes are trying to remove their children from. Some of them try very hard and are successful, others have limited choices and aren't.

[Lazyjaney]

Think the Comprehensive system does better for the majority than the 11+/secondary modern system which was unfair to both girls and the poor

Comprehensive system is not good enough at getting the best out of kids vs competing countries anymore, it's been given too many other objectives to hit apart from education.

The German system IMO could work well in the UK, they have a lot of grammar schools, it's not an 11+ cut-off so it catches late developers too, and they have a well funded vocational track not just an academic one. And it returns power to the teachers to teach.

[feelokaboutit]

The middle classes aren't necessarily the ones with the bright children. What if there is a bright kid who nobody has identified as such because of a possibly chaotic home life? Kids blossom at different ages, and I don't think children should be confined to a certain "category" of education before they have had a chance to mature into the person they can be, or because their parents have difficulties of any type.

A good comprehensive will in itself try to cater to all needs - from gifted and talented to kids with special needs. It's difficult yes, but not impossible.

[sorrelthemop]

Segregation doesn't necessarily need to cut children off. They can have the opportunity to show their abilities along the way, but a 'one size fits all' comprehensive system ends up failing everybody. It offers a bland, mediocre taste of education that inevitably ends up by teaching to the lowest common denominator. Children are bullied for being bright and nobody is there to stand up for them.

[FadedSapphire]

SorreltheMop- just wow...
Revolting views [hoped for a moment you were having a sick joke; it appears not].

[sorrelthemop]

Oh I'm sorry I'm not a hand wringing leftie, not all of us are you know there are actually other views out there regardless of whether or not you happen to approve agree with them.

I myself have been through the shitty comprehensive school system and my children are currently going through the same shitty system now so I do have some experience and are entitled to my "revolting views" thank you very much.

[AKissIsNotAContract]

The free school nearest to me is in special measures