Outline of the School
We will ensure that the ‘headline’ aspects
of your school are mirrored and supported throughout
your proposal, and provide an easy reference point
for the DfE as it assesses your suitability to progress.
Educational Vision
The ‘DNA’ of the school is the property
of the Proposer group. Whilst we will not, and should
not, advise you on what your vision should be - we
are however able to challenge it, and then work with
you to articulate it in the most compelling way. We
will also ensure that the vision is adhered to throughout
the proposal document, to demonstrate clarity of thought
and clear purpose.
Your vision must be aligned
with the requirements and spirit of the Free Schools
policy, taking account of Government policy on key
areas such as the English Baccalaureate – and
we will help you to ensure that this is the case.
It is worth noting here that the new process specifies
the following as the absolute minimum requirement
which the proposal should achieve:
- To set out why you are
establishing your Free School, including the rationale
for areas such as age range, curriculum offer, location,
pedagogy and so on.
- To identify what will
make the school distinctive in its vision and ethos.
- To communicate a clearly
focused vision that underpins the application and
also aligns with the aims of the Free Schools programme.
Educational Plan
Place Group can support Proposers across all phases
and educational philosophies, from ensuring that your
admissions policy complies with relevant legislation,
right through to demonstrating the provision of an
appropriate and viable curriculum. This helps to ensure
that all learners, of all abilities, are catered for
- and that the school has a clear plan for measuring
progress and embedding a success culture.
As educational specialists,
we are able to offer high level of expertise in the
development of a wide ranging curriculum which meets
the needs of your individual school - and also, in
time, achieves the vision which was originally set
out. We will also assist you with choice and diversity
considerations. These are important for both parents
and trustees, and can relate to the ethos, character
and education philosophy of a school, manifested through
the proposed organisation of learning via curriculum
structure and delivery.
Whatever type of school you
are hoping to achieve, Place can help you to crystallise,
articulate and develop your education vision and philosophy
in a way that inspires your group and satisfies reviewers.
We will work with you to ensure that your curriculum
is modelled to a staffing structure that is seen as
educationally and financially viable by DfE, and one
which will also meet the requirements of the Free
Schools Funding Agreement.
It is worth noting here that
the new process specifies the following as the absolute
minimum requirement which the proposal should achieve:
- Admissions
- to provide details of your planned admissions
policy, including the criteria which will be used
to prioritise places if your school is oversubscribed.
- Structure
- to outline the length of the school day, term
and year and to explain how pupils will be organised
- for example through year groups, tutor groups
or other class structures.
- Curriculum
- to describe the curriculum in detail, demonstrating
how it will be ‘broad and balanced’
to meet the different needs and interests of all
pupils - and to demonstrate a curriculum model which
shows what proportion of learning is given over
to each subject or area of learning for each year
group.
- Equality
- to set out your approach to disabled pupils and
pupils with Special Educational Needs, who may or
may not have a statement, and indicate how you will
have regard to the SEN Code of Practice.
- Measurement
- to show how you will define, measure and hold
people accountable for the success of individual
pupils, and of the school as a whole.
- Religion
- for faith schools, to be accompanied by a letter
of endorsement from the relevant religious body
or diocese for the Church of England or the Roman
Catholic Church. Note though that creationism, intelligent
design and similar ideas must not be taught as valid
scientific theories.
- Behaviour
- to demonstrate how you will promote good behaviour,
positive relationships and good attitudes to learning,
and how you will maintain high levels of attendance.
- Community
- to explain how your school will aim to foster
good community relations and to promote active contribution
to modern British society, in line with the Equality
Act 2010.
Marketing and Evidence
of Demand
The Admissions process for the first year of the Free
Schools initiative was amended to allow parents to
specify a Free School as an additional choice –
however, it is unlikely to that this will be continued
for 2012 admissions, making it clear that marketing
and community consultation will be all the more imperative.
Place has worked with a number
of Free Schools to carry out consultation work under
the terms of the Academies Act 2010. In tandem, we
have also worked with Proposers to ensure that they
have sufficient demand to satisfy DfE and deliver
the curriculum. Our marketing consultants have developed
toolkits that will give Proposers, the DfE and prospective
parents confidence in the school.
The new process specifies
the following as the absolute minimum requirement
which the proposal should achieve in this area:
Demand
- To provide information
that clearly shows the number of parents who want
to send their children to your particular school,
ensuring that the evidence you have collected is
consistent with your stated admissions policy -
age range, proximity to the proposed site and so
on.
- To include details of
the questions that you asked in your survey - which
should be specific to your school.
- To demonstrate how you
have made, or how you intend to make, the school
known and attractive to pupils from deprived or
disadvantaged families.
- If you are proposing
a faith school, to demonstrate that you have actively
engaged with parents of other faiths or no faith.
The minimum criteria for
acceptance of a Free School application is that you
can show clear demand from parents, with children
of the relevant age, equivalent to a minimum of 50%
of enrolment in your first two years of operation.
You will also need to chow evidence of confirmation
from parents that they would select your Free School
as one of their child’s choices.
Marketing
- To provide a plan for
how you will market the school to prospective parents,
covering not only first year intake but also ensuring
that places will be filled in each intake year going
forward.
- To demonstrate how you
intend to reach out to the wider community, including
children from a range of backgrounds and faiths
(if relevant) and across the ability spectrum.
- To show a clear plan
for the statutory consultation which must be undertaken
if your school is approved, including consideration
of how you might respond to feedback. and
If your school is approved
you will need to be able to provide a robust marketing
strategy built on your educational vision and plan,
taking into account your proposed intake and the demand
that you have already gathered.
Organisational Capacity
and Capability
It is fair to say that many Proposers entered the
2011 process without a full understanding of the pressure
that opening a school can place, both on time and
emotions.
As such, we have spent a
great deal of time mapping out the process for Proposers
and enabling them to delegate work within their groups.
We have also helped to indentify gaps within each
Proposer group’s skill-set and have assisted
them in filling these gaps - either by connecting
them with like-minded people in their area, or by
providing support from within our network of consultants.
We will help to give you
a clear understanding of the roles that will need
to be performed at each stage of the process, and
once the school is open - helping you to demonstrate
to the DfE that you are fully capable of providing
high quality education in your local area.
The new process specifies
the following as the absolute minimum requirement
which the proposal should achieve:
- To demonstrate a clear
understanding of the respective roles of the Company,
Governing Body and Principal Designate (headteacher)
– and to provide details of the members of
the Company, their particular areas of experience
and expertise, and the time they are able to commit
to the project.
- To show that you have
considered the resources, people and skills that
you will need to set up a school and, in particular,
to demonstrate that you have educational and financial
expertise on your long-term team.
- To identify if there
are skills gaps within your group or team at present
and to indicate how you propose to address these
if your application is approved.
- To set out plans for
recruiting your school’s Principal Designate
and the role you envisage them playing in the pre-opening
phase. If you have already identified someone, you
should provide their CV along with evidence of their
ability to deliver your educational vision and lead
your proposed school.
- To set out your plans
for the leadership and staffing of your school,
reflecting both the arrangements when it opens and
as the school develops to full capacity, including
a ‘robust and realistic’ plan for recruiting
high quality staff in accordance with your proposed
staffing structure and educational plans.
- To outline your plans
for appointing a committed Governing Body, with
the breadth of skills needed to oversee both the
pre-opening and post-opening phases.
Premises
Finding a site is one of the biggest challenges facing
some Proposer groups, and Place has already worked
closely with organisations such as Partnerships for
Schools to resolve complex site issues for many Proposers
at Business Case stage. The New Schools Network and
its partner organisations have also become increasingly
involved in this area.
Our consultants can advise
on the likelihood that any premises/site will be suitable
to deliver the curriculum you are planning, and we
can also put you in contact with a network of other
advisors who will offer support in working though
issues relating to your premises. The DfE guidance
is clear that no agreements should be entered into
by Proposer groups, however we are able to assess
potential options to allow you to submit a strong
case in this area.
There are no minimum criteria
set out by the DfE relating to premises, that must
be met at the point of submitting your application.
However, if it proves impossible to identify a suitable
site by mid-July of the year prior to the proposed
September opening date (for 2012, this would be July
2011) then it is highly unlikely that the DfE will
be able to approve your application, simply because
of the time available to do whatever is necessary
to prepare the site for the opening of the school.
The DfE makes an overall
‘value for money’ and cost assessment
of your preferred site options, and applications which
are able to achieve the best value for money and best
overall cost are naturally be prioritised for approval
over those that do not.
Initial Costs and
Financial Viability
The guidance and documentation provided by DfE in
relation to financial modelling is very clear. However,
there is an ‘art’ and a ‘science’
involved when it comes to marrying the demands of
the curriculum model, a staffing structure and other
factors, with the Vision and Ethos of the Proposer!
Having produced a number
of successful Free School Business Cases, and with
experience in bidding for funding for over 40 Academies,
we have developed a clear structure which enables
us to manage the circular process between Proposer,
Project Management Company and DfE – and ultimately
to achieve the desired result.
Starting with a discussion
over ‘red lines’ that cannot be crossed
- such as pupil/teacher ratio and length of the school
day - we will develop a model and then refine the
staffing and curriculum with you, in order to achieve
viability without unacceptable compromise. We have
been praised for our creativity in this area, and
for our ability to look past what has been developed
for ‘average’ schools.
The new process specifies
the following as the absolute minimum requirement
which the proposal should achieve:
- To represent value for
money in the use of public funding, providing a
balanced budget whilst also ensuring that the educational
vision of the school can still be delivered.
- To demonstrate financial
plans that are consistent with other aspects of
the application and are based on supportable and
realistic assumptions about income and expenditure.
- For existing independent
schools, to show that there is a good track record
of financial management and that there are no other
existing financial issues which would impact on
the transfer to Academy status.
- To show that the school
will be financially sustainable once there is a
cohort of pupils in each year.
- To show that the school
will be financially resilient to reductions in income
caused by failure to recruit pupils to your best
estimate, or by failure to receive contributions
from third party sources, where these are expected
to be significant.
