Free school backed by Chuckle Brother among four approved

A SECONDARY school backed by a Chuckle Brother and a primary school which will teach each of its pupils to play a musical instrument will be among the next wave of the Government’s flagship free schools to open in Yorkshire from next year.

Rotherham Central Free School, which has comedian Barry Elliott as a figurehead, is among four planned schools which were given backing yesterday by the Department for Education.

Three new free schools in Bradford were also given the initial go ahead. A primary and a secondary will be led by Dixons City Academy – one of the city’s most successful schools – and a charity based at Bradford City Football Club has also got approval for a small secondary with a curriculum based on sports, arts and enterprise.

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Free schools are a key Government reform encouraging parents, teachers and communities to set up their own state funded schools if they are unhappy with the choice on offer locally.

Rotherham Central Free School is being led by Charlotte Blencowe, a teacher from Rotherham who has been involved in the future leaders programme which fast tracks outstanding teachers into management positions. Last year she announced that Elliott – better known as one of the Chuckle Brothers – would be the school’s patron.

Dixons has been a successful school in Bradford for more than 20 years having started as a city technology college. Six years ago it converted into an academy and two years ago began sponsoring another academy in Bradford – Dixons Allerton which replaced Rhodesway School.

Now it is planning to create two more schools: a primary school based in the city centre offering extended childcare and a secondary school which would aim to replicate the success of Dixons City Academy. Both schools would have a city-wide intake.

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Nick Weller, who is executive principal of the two existing Dixons schools said: “At Dixons City Academy we have 1,200 applications for 165 places. We are turning away more than 1,000 pupils every year. We can’t expand on our current site so the plan is that with a new free school our combined intake could increase to at least 300 students a year.”

The primary school will specialise in music and ensure every child learns how to play a musical instrument.

The other free school given ministerial backing in Yorkshire yesterday was a plan led by the One in a Million Charity based at Bradford City football club.

The charity, which already delivers alternative education to vulnerable children in Bradford, plans to open a secondary school with 50 pupils in each year group.

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Three free schools opened in Yorkshire last month. Batley Grammar converted from the private sector while the King’s Science Academy and Rainbow Free School were launched in Bradford. Two other free schools also already have the go-ahead to open in Birkenshaw and Hull.

The four new projects are among 55 free schools approved nationally yesterday. These include a sixth form college supported by several leading private schools.

The London Academy of Excellence is to be set up in Newham, by fee-paying Brighton College with Eton taking responsibility for English lessons and Highgate School delivering maths.

The Government also announced the launch of 13 new university technical colleges (UTC’s) which deliver specialist education for 14 to 19-year-olds. These include Yorkshire’s first UTC, in Sheffield, which will specialise in advanced engineering and creative and digital industries with the backing of the city’s college.

The UTC is set to open in 2013 with pupils starting at 14 and 16.