TPP Law client Toby Young has become the first sponsor to gain approval to launch a free school in West London. The parent-led West London Free School - set up by the writer Toby Young - is the first to sign what is known as a funding agreement, or contract, with the government.
The parent-led West London Free School is the first to sign a funding agreement with the Department for Education. The secondary school will open to new pupils in September and will initially have a temporary home in Hammersmith.
The parents behind the school say they want it to be academically excellent with a classical curriculum, strong discipline and a competitive atmosphere - particularly in sport. They want an ethos which aims to "instil ambition in all pupils, no matter what their background”.
Writer and broadcaster Toby Young said: "We are absolutely delighted and hope that our success inspires other groups of parents and teachers to follow in our footsteps. It's too early to say whether the free schools policy will be a success, but we have at least proved that a group of unpaid volunteers can establish a new school.”
So far there have been 258 applications to set up free schools. Of these, 40 have now been approved to what is known as "business case" and nine have passed to the pre-opening stage. TPP Law is delighted to be supporting several of these.
Managing Director, Mark Johnson said, “We are absolutely thrilled for Toby Young and his group of fellow parents. Their determination to drive this project through to completion should give heart to all those parents who want to set up a good school to meet their children’s needs. TPP Law has been delighted to play a part in making this happen and we hope to work with many other innovative projects in education over the coming months.”
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