Been offered brand new free school or last choice

[Lazymama2]

We're not sure what to do as have been offered a place at a brand new school which is with walking distance but has not been 'fitted out' yet (buildings are there). There is very little concrete info on term dates, start and finish times, curriculum and obviously no past performance on which to base a decision. Also no older kids to look up to. Other school is our last choice and has improved from satisfactory to good. DH does not want Dd to go to this school and would prefer private. I, on the other hand, quite like idea of a brand new school.

Thoughts/ideas anyone?

PS please dont turn this into a debate of state vs. private as I believe every parent does what is best for thier child/family circumstances and im not for/against one or the other.

Thank you Jakecat. That is very reassuring! It was the first time I had a chance to meet with any of the team tonight and I was hoping to meet other parents who had already taken up their offer but most there tonight were still on the waiting list.
Yes the negative campaigning has created some doubts and left me feeling slightly apprehensive about sending my four year old into such an atmosphere but the leadership team tonight came across as positive and very capable.
Nlondondad you provided me with good advice recently and I respect your fantastic knowledge of the area and the school system but if you had attended the meeting tonight you would have seen a lot of desperately worried parents who are considering Whitehall Park as their best (and in some cases only) choice of a school for their child come September.

Markmyplace I've sent you a mail with more detail but yes we have accepted a place at Whitehall Park.

Markmyplace We've also accepted a place by the way - meant to add that to previous post

Thank you both Junior and Jakecat for making the decision much easier.

Just noticing I'm not the only one to think that "Juztaparent " is anything but.

And from your description of the new free school, Juzt, I wouldn't touch it with anyone else's barge pole either. We don't all "aspire" to a Norfolk House type education for our children. In fact that would make me run very fast in the opposite direction.

I don't see how this school purports to be offering the equivalent of private education with class sizes of 28. It's worth also bearing in mind that, if the school is popular, those classes are highly likely to go up to 30 after appeals, as they will have major difficulty in proving that they would be prejudiced in taking more pupils.

I agree I would never take a place at a new free school for my child: not only are there all the problems mentioned by others above by virtue of the fact that the school does not need to keep to the national curriculum or employ qualified teachers etc, you are also dealing with the fact that you are being asked to take their ability to teach and run a school totally on trust, often in a totally unsuitable temporary building. At a free school local to me, there were great promises about the wonderful plans and the brilliance of the headteacher, only for her to disappear mysteriously within a few weeks. In general, staff turnover rates in academies and free schools are also worrying.

There are one or two oddities on the website for this school. For example, the sample Reception timetable bears no mention of assemblies or religious worship. The bit about SEN provision refers to supporting children with "specific learning needs" which is not the same as special educational needs; and it lumps in with that children with English as an additional language, which suggests serious and very worrying misunderstandings about both SEN and those who do not have English as their first language. The barrister governor is described as a part time judge, which is technically correct but a little misleading as he is simply a deputy district judge in the Magistrates' Court, which is approximately the lowest level of judge in the system and may entail sitting as a judge for only 15 days a year. I don't have the knowledge to assess the CVs of the other governors, but if there are similar exaggerations there, that does not fill me with confidence. If the school's recruitment programme went to plan, they only recruited one of the teachers earlier this month and the advert encouraged applications from NQTs, which again I would have thought inappropriate in a new school.

Not for me, thanks.

my private selective school had classes of 30 and 31
but that was decades ago

Free schools don't HAVE to follow the NC, and they don't HAVE to employ NC qualified teachers. However, it doesn't mean that a lot of them do not have, as policy, both NC qualified teachers only, and follow the NC.

If it was a new state school, would you all be so upset? That isn't tried and tested, but a new school has to start somewhere. If everyone refused to send their children to a new school, then existing schools would just have to get bigger and bigger.

Private schools don't have to teach the national curriculum, nor do they have to employ qualified teachers, and yet somehow there isn't a huge call to shut down all of them.

If individual parents wouldn't choose to send their children to a certain school, fair enough. But if someone else did want to, then fair enough. Personally, I would be quite annoyed if people rubbished the school I choose to send my child to just because it isn't their chosen school.

allyfe
If it was a new state school, would you all be so upset?
No.
Because it would be set up by the LEA using systems and structures and recruitment policies and finances that are tried and tested and transparent.

There are no schools being set up by the LEA where I live. There are almost no schools that are still with the LEA, and those that are will all turn into academies in the next few years.

I would prefer if the system was still an LEA system, but in some areas, it isn't. Consequently, there is absolutely no point in wanting your children to go to an LEA school because there literally aren't any.

Schools have essentially been privatized, and it is shocking how 'under the radar' it has happened. I also agree how frustratingly untransparent the finance and management system is. However, a single sole academy has arguably less idea what they are doing than a free school which is part of a consortium (particularly an established one). So, the only thing you can do round here is judge each school on their merits, and be aware of the consortium they are in (if any) and what the other schools are like in that. It isn't helpful just to reject all academies and free schools, unless you were willing to move to a different Borough.

allyfe
There are no schools being set up by the LEA where I live.
That is because LEAs are effectively banned from setting up new schools even where the demand is intense.

Could you name me ANY Free school consortium that has taken kids right through to their A levels with success?
THAT is what I call established.

TalkinPeace You are slightly missing my point. I know why there have been no LA schools. I'm not saying that the consortium are established at all. They are no more established than the Academies (independent or part of a consortium). But the point is, if you have a choice between a sole trader Academy, a consortium academy, a free school part of a consortium, or a satisfactory LA school that will be an academy in the next few years (ignoring the fact that you would never really have the choice of that many schools!), then what do you do? It is totally fair enough to think that Gove has totally wrecked the education system, but as a parent, you still have to choose from what is available.

Just to add, the three free schools opening near me this year are being run by Harris Academies (x2) and CfBT (x 1). In all cases, the schools WILL have NC trained staff, and WILL follow the NC.

The Head at Whitehall Park confirmed last night that they will base their teaching on the national curriculum with an emphasis on reading, writing and literacy. She is also very experienced in SEN and will take the lead on that within the school. All teaching staff will be qualified, the two reception teachers are coming from a state school and there will be a cook on site for school lunches.
My older child went to an outstanding primary notorious for parents doing whatever it took to get their child a place and she spent a good deal of time in portacabins as there was building work to expand (which is still going on now, 3 years after she left Year 6). The school also had to close their kitchens for a year when it was discovered that an unhealthy amount of lead was leaking from the pipes. My point is that an established outstanding primary is no guarantee of an easy ride.
All schools have to start somewhere and for parents with no allocated school for their child in September this is the absolute best alternative to home teaching or going private.
I think with the parents input (you have no idea how determined and 'pushy' North London parents can be) this school stands as good a chance as any.

@ Scarletbanner Its quiet funny really the moment anybody counters your ideology. the personal remarks wade in, very democratic of you.
I just countered the obvious misinformation being plied here which you are repeating.
The idea was to offer the 'best of both' (private and public) I mentioned that they can't have the same class sizes or specialist teachers already.
You repeat the misinformation that there will not be qualified teachers we have shown that they are extremely well qualified. One has already moved location nearby- a sure sign of high turnover.
You repeat the misinformation that the national curriculum will not be followed, the lessons have been based on the national curriculum.
I focused on Whitehall park, not free schools in general.
You focus on total irrelevances (just like nlondondad....?)
Regarding the Barrister governor: Deputy district judge in a magistrates court / part time judge. Sorry to disappoint that hes not an old Bailey judge! The point being he is a highly qualified professional.
There was an article in the observer yesterday confirming that the gap in achievement between the private and public sector schools have grown threefold and is increasing. If you're happy with that good for you.
This is a public sector school it will be run on a non for profit basis funded by us, the taxpayer. As a parent I hope do my bit to make it succeed.

Sorry I read scarletbanner and nennypops post together above so apologies to nennypops.

for parents with no allocated school for their child in September this is the absolute best alternative to home teaching or going private.

I wonder if this is part of Gove's plan. There seem to be a lot of areas that don't have sufficient school places to fulfil local demand. Is this his way of fast tracking people into the new private school sector he is designing? [tongue in cheek]

this is the absolute best alternative

Don't you mean this is the only alternative to HE and private. I'm not sure it has been sufficiently "tried and tested" to claim its the "best".

juztaparent - As a parent I hope do my bit to make it succeed.

Good luck with that. However, I think you will find plenty of parents who are not prepared to make their DC the sacrificial lamb in the governments latest experiment.

In my area, last year, when there were around 50 children who didn't have any school place offer, the LA opened two bulge classes in a 'satisfactory' (just out of special measures) junior school in the less nice part of town [tounge in cheek]. The school thus became a through school a year early, and the classrooms were in portacabins. The school will be becoming an Academy at some point.

This year, there are three free schools. All in 'nice' [again, tounge in cheek] areas. All will be NC and qualified teachers. All 'supported' by a consortium/trust.

Honestly, who would prefer to send their children to the recently special measures and still only just satisfactory school with no PTA (yes, really!) and who would prefer the 'free' school? And all of this is assuming you can't afford private and you can't do home education?

MumTryingHerBest I agree with you. I hate what Gove has done to the education system. However, if my only choice was a free school or a practically failing school, I'd choose the free school.

@MumTryingherBest. Fully understand your point. Good luck to everybody with these difficult choices.

allyfe there are schools that are going from good to special measures in a relatively short period of time. On the back of this I would be more inclined to do thorough due diligence on both schools before concluding that either school is the best choice. In short, I would not choose any school purely on the basis of what is written on a piece of paper or a short list of statistics.

I certainly would not choose a school just because the other school is classes as failing. What's to say that the free school won't be assessed as failing in a year's time. There are already free schools that have been assessed as failing and even closed down.

As I said before, the free school model is still in its infancy and there is not sufficient tried-and-tested evidence to suggest that it provides a superior option or even an equal alternative.

These schools, in my mind, are nothing short of start up new businesses. When I look at the failure rate in business start ups I'm not convinced I want to gamble with my DCs academic future.

MumTryingHerBest I totally agree with you that all schools should be assessed on their individual merits. But essentially the result for me is that, given the situation here, it isn't possible to dismiss free schools simply because you may be opposed to the model. Not least because there is so little difference between a free school and an academy when the organisation running them is the same.

There have been failing free schools. In the same way that there have been failing state schools. The Government essentially shuts them down and brings in an Academy consortium to run them. The difference isn't that great.

I think that where we disagree is in the view that Free schools are all the same. When someone like Harris is running a free school (whether you agree with their school/teacher policies or not), it isn't the same as a start up business, or at least that they are that different to any new school, LA or otherwise. They have equal chance of success and failure. I just don't think that free schools can be judged en mass. Or at least if one were to do that, the same judgements should be applied to Academy schools. Each school has to be considered in it's own right, based on who is setting it up, what it is offering, where it is, etc. etc.

You must try harder Juztaparent, and read my post again. You protest rather too much as I didn't say any of the things you're attributing to me.

Would I accept the school if there was no other option? Probably, and very reluctantly, as home ed not an option for us. But I would make sure I was on the waiting list for all the other schools in the area.

Allyfe, I fully agree.

I imagine a persons perspective on Free Schools vs Academy may also be influenced by the area they live in. All 7 of the SW Herts Consortium schools have Academy status, all of them relatively high performing semi-selectives. In the areas presented with this scenario, many will hold the view that Academies are a good option. Just to be clear, I am not saying that this is my own view.

Scarletbanner I read your post 'together' with the following one, hence the combined reply and I apologize for that mistake.
My choice of school would be purely on the quality of education for my child. Not whether it was public a free school or private.
If I chose that school on the basis of ideology or hearsay without the facts then I would be shooting myself in the foot.