Pupils to work for longer in classroom revolution

Education Secretary Michael Gove said free schools would offer a “genuine alternative” to parents as they would have the freedom to be different.

One of the first of these flagship schools opening in September plans to remain open for six days a week, 51 weeks of the year.

Up to 20 free schools could open this year, including three in Yorkshire, and it is hoped 100 will be launched in 2012.

But Ministers are facing questions over why they are refusing to publish details of the majority of bids for state funding to set up free schools in Yorkshire.

Free schools are key education reform of the coalition Government, which has invited groups of parents and teachers to apply to set up their own schools if they are unhappy with the choice in their community. Mr Gove said yesterday that the new type of school would come in “all shapes and sizes”, some being based in existing classrooms.

In a speech to the Policy Exchange he also welcomed the demand for free schools as it was confirmed the Department for Education (DfE) had received 281 applications in the past month from groups across the country who want to run their own schools from 2012. These bids, made under a tougher new application system, include 28 from Yorkshire.

The region has been at the forefront of the free school movement since it started, Three are set to open in September: Batley Grammar will convert from the private sector while two new schools are set to be created in Bradford, the King’s Science Academy, a secondary being led by teacher Sajid Hussain, and the Rainbow Primary School being backed by ATL Yorkshire a not-for-profit enterprise support organisation.

Two other bids from a parent group in Birkenshaw and an existing school in Hull have also had their business cases approved by Ministers and could open new schools in 2012 and 2013.

A plan for the Three Valleys Independent Academy, in Rotherham has now been entered into the new application process for schools wanting to open in 2012.

These six bids are the only ones which the Government has named so far from Yorkshire.

There were, however, under the initial application process another 28 bids from the region which were not successful. The Yorkshire Post has asked for basic details on each of these plans through the Freedom of Information Act but the DfE has refused to answer. It has also not revealed who is behind the 28 new free school bids from the region and it is unclear whether any or all of these are from the same 28 who were unsuccessful the first time around.

The DfE has revealed only the location of the first 28, which include nine from Bradford, six from Leeds, four from Doncaster and Kirklees and other bids from Barnsley, Calderdale, Hull, North Yorkshire, Rotherham Sheffield and York.

A spokeswoman said: “We will publish business cases, funding agreements and financial information for approved free schools when their final costs have been agreed. Publishing information before negotiations are finished could make it harder to save taxpayers money.”

Campaigners say it is unfair to withhold information about potential free schools until they have been given Government backing.

Fiona Millar, from the Local Schools Network campaign group, said: “What are they afraid of? If they want to promote this policy why is so much of it being kept under wraps?

“One of the complaints we hear from parents is that people only find out about free schools, which could have a detrimental effect on their child’s existing school, when it is too late and the plan has been approved.”

The Yorkshire Post can also reveal that one of the unsuccessful bids from Leeds came from the independent Muslim faith school New Horizons.

And yesterday, a senior cleric claimed the church’s continued involvement in public education was being challenged by Government changes. The Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, said a “changed rationale” and the growth of academies requires action to ensure the survival of the Church of England’s provision of education.