This in from Andrew Turner‘s office, in his own words, Ed
The Riverside Centre, Newport, was the venue for a lively public meeting about alternative school models on the evening of Thursday 6th June. Representatives from the Studio Schools Trust and the Free Schools Group of the Department of Education spoke to around 50 parents, governors, teachers and other interested individuals about what these alternative school models have to offer.
The audience also heard from representatives of the Isle of Wight Studio School and the Island Senior Free School about what their schools will offer. Both have received approval from the Secretary of State, and subject to a final detailed funding agreement, plan to open their doors next September.
Island Free School
The Island Free School group plan to create a learning environment with a longer school day where every student achieves five good GCSE grades; offering a grammar school education to a comprehensive intake of young people. It will be a small, caring school where every student is known to every member of staff.
Island Studio School
The Island Studio School will be working closely with employers, particularly in the fields of Marine Manufacturing and Offshore Engineering, to prepare young people aged from 14 to 19 for the world of work. Employers will be involved in all aspects of school life – from helping to design the curriculum to providing paid work placements and mentoring individual students.
Primary Free School
The project manager of the team behind the proposed Primary Free School also talked about their plans to submit an application for approval next year for a school where education will be project based and 50% of all learning will take place outside the classroom.
The Island’s MP, Andrew Turner, organised the meeting following discussions with Ministers about education on the Island and in the wake of recent disappointing Ofsted reports. He commented:
“We all realise that we must drive up standards in education on the Island; one way of helping to achieve that is to offer a mix of schools to meet the needs of pupils and their families. Like many things in life, school should not be a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
“There should be a range of opportunities to suit the different abilities and aptitudes of young people to ensure they achieve the very best they can from their years at school. Feedback from the audience after the event indicated that a number of people now have more information to enable them to make the right decision for their children.”
Lively Q&A
A question and answer session followed the presentations where everyone had the opportunity to find out as much as possible about what the new types of school had to offer. Cllrs. Richard Priest and Chris Whitehouse, who are now responsible for Island education, were also present and both spoke about the new Council’s future plans for raising standards in Island schools and their personal commitment to improving results.
Mr Turner added,
“These are completely new types of schools – and as they are not yet open students and their parents can’t go along to see the schools in action. We all agreed that if there is demand for a similar meeting next year we will organise one.”
