Source: The Jewish Chronicle
This week something big is happening in education around the UK– a new set of schools are opening their doors. These aren’t ordinary schools – they’re Free Schools, set up by individuals with a passion for education.
Let’s be clear what these schools are. There are no fees. They are not private schools. They are independent schools within the state sector – free for the children who go there. And this Government is the first in British history to let this happen.
People in the Jewish community in Leeds are opening the city’s new Leeds Jewish Free School, Meanwhile, parents in Barnet have set up the Alma Primary.
We also call them Free Schools because those who run them are free to innovate – free to do what they think is best for the education of their students. Take the new Mosaic Jewish Primary School in Wandsworth, which is going to run a comprehensive Jewish Studies programme alongside the National Curriculum.
It’s so different to how it used to be. In the old days, all state schools were precisely that – run by the state with rules set from upon high. Free schools put teachers in the driving seat instead.
Read more at the Jewish Chronicle.