Newspaper to aid school campaign

PARENTS who want to set up their own small secondary school serving just 200 pupils plan to produce their own newspaper to promote awareness of their plan in their community.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Nov 2010, 09:30 BST
Updated 17th Nov 2010, 09:31 BST

The York Free School Group aims to establish a parent-led school for the Holgate area of the city. They have submitted a bid to the Department for Education and plan to open in September 2012.

Group member Tim Moat said: "Time spent at different school gates over the last few weeks has revealed that there are still some people who don't know about our plans for a new secondary school in this area.

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"In an attempt to reach those people and to update everyone in the community, we plan to publish 5,000 copies of an eight-page colour tabloid newspaper and distribute them across the YO24 post code area."

The group's first choice site for their proposed school is a derelict former railway workers' canteen which is owned by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. They also aim to acquire an area of neighbouring land which is currently owned by Network Rail.

Mr Moat said officials from the quango Partnerships for Schools, which is helping groups to open up their own state-funded free schools, were "taken" with the plan to turn the former railway workers building into classrooms.

Owners Yorkshire Forward say, however, it is currently unsafe. An alternative site for the school has also been identified at Melton Language College where parents hope their school could be co-located. Both of these sites are in Holgate Road – at the heart of an area which parents in the York Free School Group believe does not currently have its own community school.