I'm not dodging the question. I'm as new to this as anyone. Here is the only guidance beyond the Schools Admissions Code that we have received.

http://newschoolsnetwork.org/assets/even...Sept10.pdf

When we get a response to our proposal and find an appropriate site we'll be in a better position to discuss our plans. Until then, I can say, the school will be in Lewisham, to serve children who live in Lewisham. There will certainly be no need or desire to go beyond the borough borders, as I've said from the outset.

Thanks for the link FHMum. It is good to see that Free Schools will not be able to select by ability or by interviews with parents or children.

I notice that there is an ideal of 'feeder nurseries' and I would assume you would include Montessori nurseries in the catchment area, to help parents keep their children in the Montessori system. Personally I would hope that a Montessori school would try to take a higher than average proportion of children with special educational needs, as I understand this method is particularly effective for such children.

If there is to be a free school in PPPL1 I would far prefer to see one that works on the Montessori methods than one that is in direct competition with other local primaries. And it is clear from the report to the mayor that the worst problem of lack of places in Lewisham is in PPPL1 (SE23/SE26). I don't believe this can be adequately addressed without a new school or permanent expansion of existing schools, not just Kilmorie.

FH Mum
What I want people to be really aware of (rather than getting into PM with you) is how important a criteria distance is and how this 'choice' won't really be one for many people. This does assume that your school is going to be oversubscribed, but since every school in Forest Hill already is by a number of times I would be very surprised if it wasn't. But I suppose you probably can't comment on that at the moment, not having a location and not being part of the formal application process yet.

One of the most useful things about the Lewisham Starting Booklet 2011/2012 (see link below) is the table setting out the distances that children have to live within to get into the school last year. This is complicated and varies each year because of bulge classes and birth rate but has been getting smaller and smaller. On page 26 and 27 this information is set out for the community schools, later in the document the voluntary aided, church schools and academy primary schools are set out and it would appear that they can CHOOSE whether to give this information (some do some don't). But in all cases the distances are very small.

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/EducationAndL...School.htm)

My concern is that parents expectation of an extra sort of choice (see Michael's comment) on top of community schools, faith schools, academy primary schools and voluntary aided schools isn't really one at all unless you happen to live within a couple of hundred metres of several of them? I am not sure whether that matters?

It would appear to me that the common application form will probably include free schools because it already includes all of the other types of school that exist and that are paid for in any way by public money. This would be a very good thing as it means that at least the application process is coordinated and not open to 'interpretation'.

Anyway the real point of this is the need for transparency, openness and consultation in the application process for all publicly funded schools. Hopefully that will be the case.

https://www.westlondonfreeschool.co.uk/u...ements.pdf

The attached is a link to the WLFS admissions code which states that applications are to be made directly to the school and that decisions for admission rest with the governing body. So this is not carried out by the local authority in the same way as faith schools.

PS Its not my reading of the WLFS admissions policy that they have to fill their places, at least initially, by any real criteria. They have been criticised for not overtly prioritising SEN children although they are adamant that they are meeting approved admissions code.
It seems to me that in the case of WLFS its the first 120 who apply by a certain date (in this case 31st Jan 2011) . Thereafter the distance and other standard criteria kick in. There does not seem to be any requirement (not that I've picked up but happy to be proved wrong) to take children from the same borough initially or even at all. Despite what fhmum says about having an intake from Lewisham only I am not sure whether in fact a free school governing body can make that decision if it is not clearly stipulated within central government guidance, and hence potentially Southwark parents who are refused a place could present a legal challenge to rejection on this basis.

A slight digression perhaps but currently ( as is my understanding from discussions with the school admin) some Southwark children attend Fairlawn Primary as its the nearest school before Goodrich for families on the borders ie Therapia Road and similar streets; that particular area is rather short of schools hence the usual massive oversubscription to Fairlawn- as well as its outstanding results of course. We have been advised that Southwark children in that area would get priority over Lewisham children for that reason- even if Lewisham children are within the catchment area and could reasonably attend Horniman as an alternative.

Just to answer Michaels point, there are plans for permanent remodelling of some existing schools within Lewisham to respond to the increased demand but this is subject to central government funding of the Primary Expansion Programme. It is not clear how this programme will fare over the next few years especially if funds are diverted into free schools! However the £50m set aside for free schools seems a drop in the ocean, especially as £15m is required for the WLFS alone in order to cater for 120 pupils only!

Why is it important that children go to school 'in' borough and not just to their nearest school that has a place for them?

I have never understood why Borough boundaries are important where schools are concerned? Surely it should be the children closest to a school that want a place, doesn't matter which Borough they come from?

(But then i'm not sure why each Borough needs an education authority but that is probably for another day.....)

I understand that there are actually around 10 separate groups seeking to set up free schools in Lewisham, however the others do clearly not have the fantastic PR machine of Primrose Primary!
Its not yet clear how many of these have actually bid in the latest round nor how many will be approved. Its also not clear whether the meeting of local need will be taken into consideration in any assessment nor will the impact on existing provision. But 10 schools is a lot od provision, which will distort the landscape considerably. I would imagine that there are only a limited number of suitable premises in Lewisham suitable for schools of this kind and hence considerable potential for people to bid against each other and to put the price up.

It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out.

You know my views on the subject by now, I'm sure!

One obvious solution is to allow the new free school to use the spare capacity of the Kilmorie building.

Sherwood,
I think that would be a bad idea. Two schools with two different educational methods would not fit well in a single building.

I think that is an excellent idea. I dare say some children will take to the Montessori methods better than others, and having the option to move children back to main stream and visa versa without having to change schools seems sensible. I'm in favour of streaming in schools and using a stream to provide a different technique sounds fair enough.

But then again I think Montessori methods are a side issue here.
From the parents point of view these free schools are about controlling intake to keep the riff-raff out.
From the government point of view it is about breaking the teachers' expensive employment conditions.
Sorry to be blunt, but that's my take on it.

Whoops, the second line should not be in the quote!

The admissions rules mean that free schools will find it difficult to 'select' parents. If there is an ulterior motive it is probably to take power away from local authorities and centralise (sorry I mean localise) control of schools.

Anyway, I don't think you'll find any riff-raff in schools in Forest Hill.

link
Control the input to a school, fairly or otherwise, and you control the output.

There is of course no ban on pupils from a council estate, nor will Bolingbroke cater exclusively for the children of bankers.

The Mirror and the GMB are distorting the facts in their idealogical opposition to free schools. It might make good headlines in a tabloid but the facts are much more complicated. You can read a better article and the comment at:
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/...e_school_/

Other commenters disagree, but whatever the truth of the exact distances, the selection of feeder schools does not appear to be have done based on excluding pupils based on wealth.

Whether or not any discrimination actually transpires amongst free schools remains to be seen, but the scope for doing so is increased when schools are responsible for their own admissions and appeals system. There is little transparency.

The source of any ideological opposition to free schools has its roots in this costly experimentation with our children's education in accordance with the rather woolly and unfounded ideology of the Torys which is supported rather silently I have to say, by the Lib Dems. The concern is that vast amounts of money are being spent on a rushed, random, cobbled together job with little foresight and planning, and with no accountability to the taxpayer. A bidding round closes in mid February for schools intending to be up and running in September 2011, staff and governors selected and vetted, premises found, planning obtained ( that could take months) and works done, pupils selected, and all the curriculum agreed, libraries stocked etc. Do people really believe that is possible and so easy to do, and can by any accounts constitute good needs analysis and strategic delivery of education provision. Its quite a risk, in this age of austerity, don't you think , to pour funds into such unproven ventures which are effectively education start ups? New business ventures have a high failure rate, no matter what the good intentions are.

In addition the government have stated that fully qualified teacher status is not required- teachers are only required to be competent. But competent in what exactly if not put through the rigours of Uk teacher training courses followed by the tough NQT experience.

The facts in the case I mentioned are clear - of all the schools in Wandsworth, Falconbrook Primary has the highest contextual value which not only means the children are doing well, but is a reflection on where they started in the first place.

The children from this school will be excluded from the new academy despite it being close, as things stand.

Sorry my link to a daily mirror article upset anyone, but I found it on the excellent site Roz referred to earlier link - it is coherent unlike the localguardian's efforts.

Generally the academies originally took over failing schools and tried to raise standards with hard discipline and new buildings, but largely failed as the expectations/futures of many of the children were already set. But if you pour enough money into facilities, reduce children/teacher ratios and use this to target the admissions to wealthier areas, then schools can be turned round as we have seen locally.

Free schools can target admissions from the start and parents need to be honest with themselves and not pretend it is some fancy method that is the main driving factor.

We are told to expect an answer from the government before the end of the month on whether we have been approved to move ahead to the next stage. In the meantime:

Keep up with our blog
http://primrosehouseprimary.blogspot.com/

and visit our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lewisham-M...4934002382

Our February newsletter will be available soon.

For anyone following the progress of Primrose House, please see this important update. This is the text of an email sent to our supporters today:

Dear Friends and Supporters

I’m writing to update you on plans for Primrose House, the proposed Montessori Free School in Lewisham. We received encouraging feedback on our proposal from the Department for Education today. It praised in particular the school’s proposed ethos and curriculum and our group’s capacity to deliver them. It also noted the strong evidence of demand for a Montessori primary school in our local community.

However, we have agreed that it is unrealistic to proceed with opening the school by September this year given the very tight timeframe and the enormous amount that remains to be done, in particular finding and renovating the right permanent site. So, we are pursuing the goal of opening in September 2012.

Although this may be a disappointment to those who wanted to apply for their child to start this year (I include myself), we believe our group will be much better-placed to offer outstanding provision in permanent premises with the right school leader from 2012.

The DfE recognises the strength of our proposal and has encouraged us to continue to work towards opening a parent-led Free School. We will spend 12th March with the New Schools Network at a workshop for proposers from all over the country who are planning to open the doors to their schools in September next year. In the meantime, the hunt continues for the right building and an inspirational school leader.

I would like to thank everyone who has given us such strong support along the way. We have worked extremely hard and come a long way in the four months since we embarked on this journey. It is not over, just taking a little longer than we would like. Please continue to support the campaign and register your interest for a place at the school. We will need help with fundraising in the coming months and I hope some of you may volunteer some fantastic ideas and efforts.

Keep up to date with news on our blog and our facebook page. Our February newsletter is coming soon. Thanks again for your continued support.

So glad to hear that this is not proceeding. I look forward to opposing this expensive and unproven venture in the coming year should it re materialise. I think its fair to assume that reading between the lines, this scheme has effectively been rejected.

Hopefully this ridiculous ConDem policy experiment with our childrens education will cease and we will instead see investment back into our existing state schools which is what is needed in these times of austerity and to provide the education that our children deserve.

Its interesting that the Save the Honor Oak Rec campaign achieved more signatures of support in 5 days that this schools campaign achieved in several months. So much for 'evidence of demand'.