The issue of Middlemore’s primary school is back in the spotlight. Previously discarded by Northants County Council on grounds of cost, a new opportunity presents itself. Thanks to changes in education provision, the Association is now in a position to pursue a Free School on Middlemore.
Free Schools are provisioned outside of the local education authority channels and run independently of the local education authority. They must offer a broad and balanced curriculum, are still subject to Ofsted inspections, and must comply with standard performance targets. The Free School system simply provides Middlemore with the route to the school it needs and was always promised.
To gain funding and approval for the Free School, a successful bid must be submitted to central government. That bid must show a suitable site, outstanding educational plans and proven parental demand for the free school.
The Association has partnered with leading education provider E-ACT (http://www.e-act.org.uk) to produce its bid. E-ACT will handle the education plans, Daventry District Council has agreed to provide another plot of land to replace that used on Site 10’s housing development, and we must now prove the demand for the school.
We have therefore organised a meeting to discuss our plans. We’d like to show you our current thinking, and consult on your views. This is vital for the project – it’s the only activity where we expect to encroach on your time. E-ACT has been successful in the past and with parental demand in place, it’s incredibly likely Middlemore can finally have its school.
We must show demand for the school from parents of children who will enter the education system in 2014 and 2015. Additionally, parents of children entering in 2013 are also urged to show their support – if the demand is there, we can look to provide places for these children as well, from 2014 onwards.
The demand is the vital part of the bid – without it, shown clearly to central government, the bid will fail.
E-ACT’s Peter Fair OBE will be attending the meeting, to outline E-ACT’s history, the plan for the school, and to help answer questions. Peter received his OBE in 2003 for his services to education and we are extremely pleased to be able to work with him.
The meeting details are:
Tuesday, 23rd October from 18:30 – 20:00, Middlemore Farm Pub
We will be located in the “top section” (Turn left as you enter the pub)
We look forward to seeing you there!
Middlemore Residents Association
Quick question, where is it likely to be located now that nearly all the land’s ear-marked for housing?
DDC have offered us 8E.
Site 8 is split into two west & east. The west side is owned by Bellway who will be building houses on it shortly (their application was approved the same night that site 10 was approved for houses).
East is still available, and thus has been offered to us
Map of Middlemore by site:
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