I have been getting to grips with the fantastic insights into the reality of opening a new school offered in a fascinating new report commissioned by the National College for School Leadership : Establishing and leading new types of school: challenges and opportunities for leaders and leadership
The NCSL report can be found on their website (which you need to log in to access).
John Dunford - Chair of Whole Education and report co-author
I was fortunate to meet one of the authors of this review of Free Schools, UTCs and Studio Schools. John Dunford, who is also Chair of Whole Education, was part of a discussion about the lack of support for free school groups seeking to offer a more ‘whole’ and forward thinking model of education. Our meeting timed with the publication of this report which had found this to be a challenge for schools already approved and open.
I’d urge all freeschoolers and those considering being involved in new schools to read this, but I found a one of the key recommendations particularly interesting:
“The Department for Education and its advisers should require from the promoters of free schools a less detailed plan, concentrating on the strategic aspects of plans for the school and not requiring the promoters to specify details that should properly be the role of the principal when appointed. “
As anyone who has been involved in the writing or assessment of a free school application will tell you, this one seems very obvious. The DfE criteria – though vague in of themselves – seem to be interpreted by the DfE officials to be a requirement to detail every aspect of school life and the education plan, specifically, is expected to be much more than strategic or illustrative. The impact of this simple problem are well explored by the report and the findings should be tough reading for the DfE Free Schools team.
There is much, much more in this report worth reading – but one of the findings that is implied throughout this document, and made more explicit by John when I met him, is that despite the potential for innovation, most of these new schools are not doing anything new or innovative and are too isolated. They are struggling to live up to their promise. The isolation forced by the process of opening, the lack of time to coordinate with other local schools and LAs, and the pressures of the timeframes involved all mitigate against effective start up.
It also seems that the lack of a network for new schools (and the confusion caused by the poorly named New Schools Network!) has meant that new schools are finding that they are alone and unsupported.
I recently received an email from a free schooler whose school is due to open this September, consoling me on our free school rejection from the DfE. Tragically, she says:
” It may seem gutting right now, but perhaps you have had a lucky escape.”
This highly skilled group have a Principal Designate – with lots of experience – yet are clearly struggling despite having the ‘support’ of the DfE to open a new – much needed – school. The NCSL report points out that this sort of struggle is all too common, but the truth is often hidden from view – due to the reality of trying to present a capable and effective school to their new ‘community’. Yet, there are communities for schools that could be helping them – not least the NCSL.
Whole Education could be the sort of network that could harness the power of these new schools, and combine it with the experience of their members, to support them and the wider system to make more progress in how we educate and ‘school’ our communities.