Rivendale bids to open free school in Hackney
“It’s old school versus new school but how will the resources be divided? It seems our loyalties already have been,” says Hackney artist Stik. Photograph: Stik
Free school group Rivendale is eyeing up Hackney as a potential site for a free school that could open as early as September 2012.
Free schools are privately-run using money from central government. They have fewer restrictions, allowing them, for instance, to set their own curriculum, choose the subjects taught and alter the length of the school day or term.
Additional funding for every child eligible for free school meals and a predicted shortage of places has made Hackney an attractive target for free school groups.
James Woods, Rivendale’s Project Manager explains the thinking behind a proposal recently submitted to open a free school near the Hackney-Harringay border: “The trustees [of Rivendale] want to go to the areas of greatest need. Not just in terms of population pressure, but also the whole motivation of the trustees is to go somewhere we can really make a difference: the relative levels of deprivation mean it would be more constructive.”
Rivendale “only wants to go where there’s demand,” says Woods, “so the advantage we offer is that there weren’t enough places before and now there’s enough places. Simple as that – we’re going to places where there’s no other option and giving parents an option. It’s a load easier to do somewhere there’s a need.”
Instead of implementing a different teaching methodology or curriculum, Rivendale will be secular; it will begin by following the National Curriculum and adhere to existing local education authority admissions guidelines.
“Opening is challenge enough, but if all goes well and it’s popular and it starts to work, we would take the opportunity in consultation with parents to see if there are any improvements we could make. What’s an example of that? We are inclined to think that terms should be shorter holidays and shorter terms. A child learns better when it’s small bits frequently rather than big bits with big gaps because they get bored at the end of term and forget everything over the summer. It might be better to have six short terms with shorter holidays in between as opposed to three big ones.”
Hackney’s ethnic and linguistic diversity could make it a challenging place to run a school, but Woods is confident that the Rivendale model suits the borough’s needs: “Hackney has some issues that are common with other boroughs and some that are unique. The truth is that the particular sort of school we are looking at is not unique to Hackney but is a set-up that works very well in urban areas with a high level of deprivation. That’s why we are asking Hackney to choose us. The Rivendale model wouldn’t work as well in the nicer end of Stoke Newington for example.”
Rivendale’s 30 pupil classes will make it easier to get pupils for whom English is their second language up to speed, says Woods. “We’ll have a good adult-to-child ratio. Classes will be taught in English, but we’ll put in the resources to deal with the challenge of getting English up to a good level.”
Meanwhile, Rivendale has so far failed to find a site for a proposed ‘free school’ in Hammersmith and has postponed plans to open one there in September. How its plans for Hackney work out remains to be seen.