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?

[FadedSapphire]

No hand wringing here Sorrel...
I am a product of the comprehensive system like you. Have had good school experiences and bad. My children are at a community primary [and happy there] and I do worry about parents self selecting out and setting up middle class enclaves.
I am interested in reading about others experiences of Free schools and hope my rather negative brushes with them are not universal...

[FadedSapphire]

Oops maybe a 'worry' sounds a bit hand wringy!! .

[Ilovemyself]

I just wish the grammar system had not been phased out!

[longfingernails]

Free schools are fantastic.

They give parents choice, they can get rid of crap teachers, they can pay by performance instead of seniority. They don't need to insist on useless PGCE qualifications, they force surrounding non-free schools to compete harder.

No wonder the NUT/NASUWT hate them. Not to mention - they give parents a concrete reason to vote Tory/UKIP, because Red Ed will no doubt neuter free schools and academies by moving them back into LEA control, if not closing them altogether.

[HepsibarCrinkletoes]

My youngest daughter will be starting at a new free school in September -nlondondad it's the first one that the Bellevue Ed Group are opening. I am really excited about it and I did put it as my first choice back in January.

This area of SW London has a chronic shortage of primary school places (3 new free primary schools are opening this year in this borough), and I didn't have a hope in hell in getting a place at the fantastic primary school my other children attended - two are now at university and DS is about to start Y12, so sibling rule is well past for me. There are also 12 or 13 independent preps within a 3 mile (tops) radius of, say, Wandsworth Common and still we're pushed for places. Something HAS to be done, and at the moment this seems to be a promising option. We won't know for 6 or 7 years for sure, how positive or negative the impact will be, but I reckon it'll be a positive way forward.

Having met the majority of the other parents though, I'd say that it's definitely more middle class than anything else and with all but 3 of us entering the education system as a parent for the first time. Class sizes are smaller, but not much - 26 per class. I do have friends who are kicking themselves for not applying and finding themselves at schools the other side of the borough.

[feelokaboutit]

They don't need to insist on useless PGCE qualifications . The reason academies and free schools are "allowed" to employ unqualified teachers is so that they can bring in experts in various fields to share their expertise on an ad hoc basis. The danger is, however, that academies and free schools will use this as a way of cost cutting, undermining pupils' education in the process. Just because you are an expert in whatever field, does not mean that you know how to handle, engage with and enthuse a class of 30.

Our primary school is becoming an academy. Luckily the Governing Body were able to choose their own sponsor - an educational charity which is nothing like the aggressive, corner cutting big chains. We asked them if they could assure us a qualified teacher in each classroom (this does not, of course, preclude people coming in to run project days for the children as happens at the moment under LEA control), and they said that it would be against their interests to do anything which undermined the school's results or damaged their reputation as sponsor and educational organisation.

Free schools and academies are failing at the same rate as Local Authority schools. The money spent on conversions would have been far better spent on reducing class sizes (if possible - a big ask) and on resources / building work for existing state schools. As for the fact that new schools can only be free schools or academies - well, whether or not you happen to live near a good one will be as much of a lottery as it is now in the maintained sector.

It's worth noting also that some academy chains pay their CEOs ridiculously large sums of money... Having unqualified cheap teachers helps to fund this inequality.

[nlondondad]

@feelokaboutit

Can I just ask if you know why your primary has decided to become an Academy? And a sponsored one? My query is because I am a governor at a community school - a primary - which has not (so far) considered Academy status, but clearly, given the direction of travel of government policy we may well need to look at the pros and cons soon. "May well need to" could well be "must" after the next general election.

[FadedSapphire]

Requires improvement schools are put under enormous pressure to convert.
Our community school [good ofsted at present] has made decision not to convert but not under pressure to at moment...

[nlondondad]

indeed faded sapphire, that would be the position we are in. A recent "good" at OfSted and no pressure to convert. But in less than two years time there may be a Conservative government; we have yet to see a manifesto of course, but it seems likely it will say something about enouraging (or even "encouraging" ) academy status.

[feelokaboutit]

Unfortunately because of a poor Ofsted (serious weaknesses - grade 4) last November just after the framework had again changed. Initially the DfE were going to bully us into the sponsor they wanted, but governor diplomacy, the involvement of our MP and a parent campaign have meant that at least we have been able to choose our own (the academy order has not yet been signed). It's not great, but given that LEAs are being deliberately sidelined and underfunded (getting rid of local expertise in the process) it is difficult to see what else could have happened .

There are some boroughs which are standing firm (ours is unfortunately weak and to a certain extent corrupt) and the vast majority of primary schools are still maintained. Hopefully Labour will get in at the next election because Gove's ultimate plan is the privatisation of all state education.

[Whathaveiforgottentoday]

The free school near me opened in an area that has a surplus of places. It will have an affect of the other schools in the area as there isn't enough kids to fill all the places.
New free school is a faith school so definitely creaming off the best of the area. I cannot see how it is going to be good for the area.

[FadedSapphire]

Do you think it will create a sort of class apartheid whathaveyouforgotten?
Some supporters of Free schools seem to be happy with that scenario....

[nlondondad]

Your mention of "apartheid" rings a bell for me.

Bellvue Place Limited, a profit making company, are being handed the old Ashmount school site in Islington, by the Government, for nothing. Gratis. Free. There are already enough places in the area. Ashmount school has not moved far. About a third of the children at Ashmount are black. Now have a look at the ethnic variety displayed on the website about the proposed new Free School put up by Bellvue Place.

www.islingtonfreeprimary.co.uk/

[nlondondad]

(its the slide show at the top of the web page I am talking about -may take a few moments to load.)

[FadedSapphire]

With admissions and Free Schools I have come across, they talk the talk but the reality is predominantly middle class [and as Hepsibar says, a lot of first borns].
As for that website nlondondad- I see your point!!

[FadedSapphire]

Good God it is awful slide show. Do you think 'knowing' or just blinkered blind stupidity. Unthinking or not rather shaming...

[HepsibarCrinkletoes]

nlondondad - to be fair, that is exactly the same slide show that is on our school's website. Certainly, from events held for parents and children of Rutherford House, it is apparent that the intake, while more middle class than some of our local schools, it is by no means exclusively so. I'd say that the ethnic intake is a fair reflection on the area that the children come from with an excellent mix. I wonder if, once our school opens, the promotional video will be updated with the children from the two reception classes?

In contrast, the LEA primary that my other children attended was probably closer to 80% white middle class. Indeed, more than three quarters of both my older DDs' classmates entered the independent sector at year 7. I think it is unfair to suggest that a free school will exclude on the grounds of class/ethnicity, however subtle.

[Aethelfleda]

"It's worth noting also that some academy chains pay their CEOs ridiculously large sums of money... Having unqualified cheap teachers helps to fund this inequality."

FeelOK, that's quite an allegation! Do you have any figures of CEO pay to back that up? In cynical mode I would not be surprised, but what's the going rate for CEO of a free school?

And at the white-kids-only Islington slideshow, though spunds like a web error rarher than deliberate segregation attempt.

The free school near us seems to have a locally representative amount of ethnic diversity (though I'm told by a playground mum friend that the trips and events are pricey, and apparently there are no packed lunches so parents can't save on money by opting out of school dinners, it's made clear to parents who visit that ongoing ££ outlay is required.)

[feelokaboutit]

Hi Aethelfleda, these articles are interesting:

www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/14/academies-pay-200k-salaries

and

www.lebanontimes.com/the-320000-superhead-state-funded-academy-chiefs-salary-soars-by-31-and-dozens-more-are-also-paid-six-figures/

That is not to say that all academy chains are like this, but the temptation must be hard to avoid - especially given the fact that their accounts are not open to the same scrutiny other public services are.

[nlondondad]

@HepsibarCrinkletoes

I think it makes a real difference that Bellvue Place Ltd are setting up the school (by "setting up" I mean they are setting up, but, we, the taxpayer foot the bill for the site and the building) -are setting up the school you are sending your children to in an area where the places are needed. After all we have a democratically elected Government who have determined that the only new schools allowed have to be Free Schools, so if one needs the places its the only game in town.

But I dont know that your comment "that is exactly the same slide show that is on our school's website" reassures me at all. Moreover the signal it sends seems clear to me. They have been told about it and paid no atterntion. In our area the school will be competing directly with the former users of the site, Ashmount school. Which, like most achools in Islington is etnically diverse. Because the area is ethnically diverse. Surely the message they send with their slide show, and continue to send having been told about it weeks ago, is that THEIR school will be different. No black children. I am sorry but I have to say it as is, that is clearly the signal they send. And the longer they send it, the more one must conclude that it is intentional.

For some weeks now they have been unable to plead ignorance.

[nlondondad]

But note an imprtant point. If you ARE the sort of parent who does not want your white children to associate with black children then Ashmount School does not want you anyway. But is it right for such attitudes to be supported by the tax payer?

[nlondondad]

@HepsibarCrinkletoes I should just clarify that I am not suggesting you are that "kind of parent" I accept you choice of school due to a shortage of places not really free anyway.

In my area everyone already has a choice of at least two schools. Adding the Bellvue Place Ltd school will provide a third choice.

[FadedSapphire]

So it is either a lazy oversight or a deliberate ploy nlondondad.
Either way not good...

[HepsibarCrinkletoes]

nlondondad no, I'm absolutely NOT 'that sort of parent' I can assure you. And I do totally see and get your points. What I was trying to say was that it would seem that, yes, the slide show is not indicative of inner London schools - both Islington and Balham are pretty similar in their diversity - and rather that I suspect the images have been taken of their pupils who attend their preps, and I think we can safely assume that the diversity there is somewhat muted.

In my daughter's class there is a great ethnic mix, around 60/40 and it's the same for the other class. And, as the huge majority of the children are first born, I should imagine that this will continue as the school grows each year.

You know I really do hear you on all your points and actually agree with most too. But I am all too aware of the chronic shortage of places in Wandsworth and am confident that while this might not be the best solution, it's better than no places.

I do err on the side of lazy oversight though; we shall see. I'll let you know how we get on and my feelings in 6 months...!

[nlondondad]

hepisbar -

The key point is the one you make when you write:-

"But I am all too aware of the chronic shortage of places in Wandsworth and am confident that while this might not be the best solution, it's better than no places"

Surely that has to be the point. Because the Government forbids any other schools than "Free Schools" as new schools, you are one of a significant number of parents who really have no choice but to go along with this experiment, which in your case far from being the parent led initiative that Free Schools are said to be, and which for PanicMode is true, is in fact one of a new generation of schools being run by for profit companies.

Because the school in Balham will fill, because people need a school for their child. this will of course be quoted as a triumph by Mr. Gove. Schools set up by companies we will be told are "sought after" by parents.

Moreover early in 2015 you will be warned that anything other than a Conservative victory in the election will imperil the future education of your child, as the future of company run schools will be unclear if Labour wins.

Its all quite clever really.

More wine needed.