Forum Topic

West London Free School.

I am working in Hammersmith just now and though that readers might be interested in this update from the West London free school.http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24033814-flagship-free-school-deluged-as-nine-pupils-apply-for-every-place.do.Something similar is on the Hammersmith and Fulham council website.

Maire Lowe ● 4826d10 Comments

The school going population in London is growing and it is good that parents, teachers and children now have a greater choice of schools. England and London in particular is pretty densely populated and has a great number of schools. Parents should be able to find suitable schools within sensible distances of their homes.The existing local authority run eduactional system, has not been very successful and as a result the UK and tyhe inner cities in particular has steadily fallen down the league tables measuring eduational outcomes in similar OECD countries.Free Schools will raise standards all round to the greater benefit of society as a whole.

David Giles ● 4670d

The rash of free schools and lack of Local Authority Planning is leading to excess places in some areas and acute shortages in others. This is extremely wasteful and not in the best interests of society.

Karen Hartnell ● 4670d

seems to be a great success. More schools need to be free schools free of local authority, bureaucratic and trade union control. and run in the interests of children and society as a whole.

David Giles ● 4671d

Andy, that's because the staff that aren't happy wouldn't have been invited to participate in the open day.

Karen Hartnell ● 4685d

I popped along to an open day at West London Free School recently. The staff did not give the impression of being either discontented or exploited.

Andy Jones ● 4687d

Danny, happy well-motivated staff are to the benefit of the children. Discontented, exploited, non-unionised staff make poorer educators although they may be cheaper.

Karen Hartnell ● 4735d

It'll be a good test of the school this week to see how much it is affected by industrial action. The proportion of staff that walk out during strikes is an indication of whether a school is run primarily for the benefit of the children or the staff.

Danny Kopech ● 4781d

Well it's free and will be housed in a beautiful building with excellent transport links in the middle of the borough and close to a lovely park - so of course it will be on everyone's list of preferred schools.

Jasmine Daines ● 4782d

Yes but the level of applications is well above other schools in the area.

Danny Kopech ● 4782d

This article is misleading as most schools get more applications that there are places as parents generally apply to more than one school.

Karen Cooper ● 4797d