Parents are looking to Tories for own school

A GROUP of Yorkshire parents could be the first in the country to open their own school under the Conservatives' plans to reform the education system.

The team of nine parents has already had plans for their own school in Birkenshaw rejected by the Government but believe they would be successful if the Tories were to be elected.

Shadow Children's Secretary Michael Gove aims to make it easier for groups of parents and teachers, education charities and co-operatives to open their own schools which are run independently but backed by state funding.

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The plans, which are similar to reforms which have taken place in Sweden, would see parent-run schools given the same freedoms enjoyed by academies.

The Birkenshaw, Birstall and Gomersal Parents Alliance wants to open a new 900-place secondary school on the site of Birkenshaw Middle School which is set to be closed under Kirklees Council's Building Schools for the Future plan.

It believes the existing council plans will leave some parents in Birkenshaw, Birstall and Gomersal without a place at a local school for their children.

Last year it submitted a bid to the Government to be allowed to open their own school but this was turned down by Schools Secretary Ed Balls who said it would have left other existing schools with surplus places.

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Now the parents are setting their sights on resubmitting a bid under a Conservative government.

Group spokesman Lesley Surman said: "We hope to be among the first, if not the first, parent-run school to open under their plans if they are elected. When we have met Mr Gove he has been very supportive.

"We have held rallies, marches and had a petition. We are 100 per cent confident that we could fill the school."

Mr Gove criticised Mr Balls' decision not to allow the Kirklees' parents plans to go ahead saying his "first priority was to side with bureaucrats not parents."

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But Mr Balls said yesterday: "I know in Kirklees a group of parents feel passionately about setting up their own school, which is why I sent an expert adviser to do a report for me about the proposal and what impact they would have. He concluded that 'the proposals would have a negative impact on other schools in the area in the form of surplus places and an adverse effect on revenue and capital budgets', which is why I decided not let the proposals go ahead."

Under the Conservatives' plans any parent or teacher who is unhappy with their choice of local school could apply to open their own if they could prove their plan was viable and would be able to meet national standards.

The New Schools Network, which campaigns to help parents start their own schools, has revealed there are already 25 groups interested in Yorkshire.

And it believes up to 100 new schools could be opened up around the country within a term if the Tories were elected.

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The Conservatives plan to give these new schools academy freedoms allowing them to operate outside local council control and set their own admissions policy and timetable.

The plan is often referred to as the Swedish Schools model based on reforms which took place in the early 1990s to open up state education to allow businesses and individuals to apply to run state schools.

In Sweden parents are given vouchers to pay for their children's education which are then given to each school as funding. Under the Tories' plan, the free schools would be funded centrally, like academies.

Tories also plan to pre-approve every school which is rated as outstanding by Ofsted to become an academy if it wants to opt out of local authority control.

Advice for going it alone

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The New Schools Network was set up last year for parents who cannot get their children into a "good local school".

It aims to provide parents with advice on how to set up their own school – how to deal with the bureaucracy; how to engage with parents to gauge local support for their plan, and what areas to cover in an application to open a school.

The charity's website says: "Groups of teachers, parents, organisations and charities should be allowed to set up schools with the freedom to offer what parents want.

"Head teachers should have the flexibility to do what they think works – whether it's smaller class sizes, strong discipline, or longer school days."

Its director Rachel Wolf is a former researcher for the Conservative Party.