Growing schools advice ¦ support ¦ ideas

Name of free school group:
Name of lead applicant:
Contact email:
Contact telephone number:
Proposed age-range:
Proposed size when full:
Proposed points of entry for pupils:
Faith ethos / designation (if any; delete where appropriate and state which faith):
Local Authority:
Please tell us how you found out about our support:
Did you attend a surgery or NSN information event before applying to the
Development Programme?
Will submit DfE free school application in (tick one):


March 2016


Subsequent rounds
Please see our application criteria to ensure that include all necessary information.
Your application should be submitted to development@newschoolsnetwork.org
.
If you experience any difficulties in completing your application please contact us at the same address.
newschoolsnetwork.org
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Charity number: 1132122

Page 4: Section 1 – Your Free School a) Rationale b) Pupil cohort c) Vision d) Governance
Page 9: Section 2 – Your team a) Capacity and Capability b) Skills gaps
Page 11: Section 3 – Gathering demand a) Gathering evidence of demand
Page 12: Section 4 – Previous DfE applicants a) Addressing feedback
 You must complete this application form in accordance with our
Application Criteria document, which is available here .
 You may use diagrams, where appropriate.
 When citing reports/data etc., you may include references as footnotes.
 You should not include appendices. Anything you wish to be considered must be included in the main body of your application.
3

a) Provide a clear and compelling rationale for establishing this type of Free School in your area
Please complete this section with free text and clearly referenced data up to a maximum of 3 pages. Relevant data would include, for example, information about basic need figures, standards in local schools and current pupil outcomes.
4

b) Provide information on the characteristics of your expected pupil cohort using the template table below.
Schools nearest to the proposed free school location
Insert the names of your local schools below
Distance from proposed location of free school in miles
Most recent
Ofsted rating
% of pupils eligible for
Free School
Meals
% of pupils who speak
English as an
Additional
Language
% of pupils with an
EHC Plan
Progress
Measures relevant to your school type*
Attainment Measures relevant to your school type* e.g. Aspire
School
0.5
4 in May
2015
75% 15% 4%
Pupils achieving
L4+ at end of
KS2: 17%
Pupils making expected progress in reading, writing and maths:
25%
5

Average figures that may be applied to
<insert name of your> Free
School
Use data about all local schools above to create average figures for the cohort of your free school
Local average
National average
* You can find the relevant information in the DfE’s Performance Tables . Depending on your school, you can use measure such as the % of pupils achieving L4+ in English and Maths at the end of KS2, KS4 GCSE data and information on closing the gap.
6

With reference to your rationale and pupil profile, describe a clear vision for your Free School.
As part of this you should describe the most important targets for your pupils and your school as a whole, and explain how they will be achieved
Please complete this section with free text up to a maximum of 5 pages.
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d) Describe the governance arrangements for your Free School
Please complete this section with an organisational diagram and free text up to a maximum of 2 pages.
You should only complete this section if you are an existing state school or
Academy Trust.
8

Name
a) Describe the capacity and capability of your group
Please complete this section using the table below and free text up to a maximum of 3 pages. Make a distinction between team members’ potential/ roles and time commitments in the application phase and the pre-opening/ open phase.
Role/ potential role
Application
Phase
Pre-opening
Skills and experience Time commitment
(Hours per week)
Application
Phase
Pre-opening
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b) Describe any skills gaps present in your group
In this section you must describe any skills gaps present in your current group and outline your plans for filling these.
Please complete this section with using the table below and free text up to a maximum of 1 page.
Skills/experience missing How you plan to fill this gap
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Section 3 – Gathering demand a) Provide a strategy for gathering evidence of demand for your
Free School
Please complete this section using free text up to a maximum of 2 pages.
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Section 4 – Previous DfE applicants a) Provide a copy of the feedback letter you received from the
DfE and explain the actions you have taken and will take to address the issues they raised.
If you previously applied to the Department for Education and were unsuccessful we will need to see how your application has developed since your last submission.
In order to enable us to do so please submit a copy of your DfE letter and complete the table below. Please complete a box for each point of feedback you received, adding additional boxes if necessary.
Point 1 DfE Feedback
(In this box paste the DfE feedback from your rejection letter)
Actions
(In this box describe the action you have taken/are planning to take to address this feedback)
Point 2 DfE Feedback
(In this box paste the DfE feedback from your rejection letter)
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Actions
(In this box describe the action you have taken/are planning to take to address this feedback)
Point 3 DfE Feedback
(In this box paste the DfE feedback from your rejection letter)
Actions
(In this box describe the action you have taken/are planning to take to address this feedback)
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