New look at Free School proposals

MEMBERS of Warrington Borough Council’s executive board have been asked to look again at their controversial decision to offer two sites for the establishment of a Free School.
The council’s children, Young People and Skills scrutiny committee has referred the matter back to the executive – which meets on Monday.
Scrutiny chiefs are advising the executive to seek assurances from the Department for Education (DfE) that there will be no danger to the borough’s plans for Special Education Needs (SEN) if the Free School initiative should go ahead.
The council wants to move the Green Lane and Fox Wood special schools into Woolston High School’s buildings after the high school closes at the start of the summer holidays.
But a group of parents at Woolston want to open The Kings Free School in the Woolston High buildings – and have the backing of the DfE.
The DfE has said if its proposals for a Free School opening in September do not quickly come to fruition it reserves the right to use special powers to secure the high school site.
Last month, the council’s executive board agreed to offer a temporary lease to allow the Free School to use empty classrooms at Bruche Primary School for up to two years and also, subject to planning permission, provide land on the Hillock Lane playing fields for the construction of a permanent Free School.
It was this decision that was “called in” for further debate by the scrutiny committee.
Cllr Colin Froggatt (right), the council’s executive member for children and young people’s services, in response to questioning by the scrutiny committee, agreed that the decision had been taken under duress and would have been different but for the threat to special education.
He believed using classrooms at Bruche Primary School would compromise the identity of the existing school.
Although the Hillock Lane playing fields would not be used by the high school again, community use had developed on the site.
But it appeared the DfE were pushing the Free School at the expense of everything else – and had the legal power to take the high school buildings
Cllr Froggatt did not believe there would be enough pupils to make the Free School viable – nor would it be possible to get the school up and running by September.
He favoured a decision that favoured those in greatest need – the SEN children – rather than those able to make the most noise.
The “call in” was not inspired by party politics. Members of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative groups supported it.
Tory group leader Cllr Paul Kennedy (left) said: “I was very concerned that the DfE was not fully aware of Warrington’s long-standing plans for Special Educational Needs and that the siting of a Free School at Woolston could jeopardise those plans.”
The Kings School hopes to have a first-year intake of 120 pupils and has been advertising for staff for some time.
A Free School is a new school established by the DfE where it believes that there is a need for additional education provision to meet parental preference. It would be outside the control of the local authority.