Bilingual free school to open at city academy (From The Argus)
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Bilingual free school to open at city academy
1:30pm Monday 7th May 2012 in News By Rebecca Evans
An academy has agreed to temporarily house Brighton and Hove’s first free school.
The Bilingual Primary School, which is due to open in September, has announced it will hold classes at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy in Lewes Road, subject to a consultation this month.
The school has struggled to find a home since it was given the provisional green light by the Department of Education last year.
It aims to be the first state-funded bilingual English/Spanish primary school in the country.
The bilingual school is due to open to year one and reception aged children and will be based at BACA for up to two years.
The school did not confirm on Friday how many children have so far been accept- ed to start this year.
The number of classes that will be provided by BACA could also not be confirmed.
The Bilingual Primary School Trust acknowledged it had been a “challenge” to find a suitable building. Last week 2,400 parents were allocated places at their first choice local authority run school in Brighton and Hove.
Brighton and Hove City Council found places for 2,700 children, however up to 60 of those could choose to turn down those places in favour of the free school.
Marina Gutierrez, founder and chair of the trust, said: “Our vision is to be the leading bilingual school in the UK. We want to build the love of learning through language.
“New locations for schools in the city are very difficult to find and we are very grateful to BACA for offering us this help. Using BACA’s excellent facilities on a tem- porary basis gives us more time to search for an ideal permanent site.”
Philomena Hogg, principal of BACA, said they have additional space as its sixth form is still growing. She said: “It means the Bilingual School can retain its independence and operate completely separately but that the children can still benefit from outdoor spaces such as our Sensory Garden.”
Carolina Gopal, the bilingual school’s headteacher, said: “I am very excited to know that I can take this unique school forward in such a wonderful setting with fabulous facilities.”
Comments(6)
jsuk2000
says...
5:29pm Mon 7 May 12
george smith
says...
6:00pm Mon 7 May 12
jsuk2000 wrote:This could a whole new start to social engineering. It is going to be fascinating to watch
Great, I am sure the middle classes of Hove will love to send their children to Moulsecoomb!
HJarrs
says...
6:05pm Mon 7 May 12
lindi_lmf wrote:It won't be state education for long!
Well done Tory Cllr. Andrew Wealls for making this happen. He is passionate about high standard state education and his vision has borne fruit.
I can't understand why the enthusiasm parents have for languages couldn't have been accommodated within an existing school?
lindi_lmf
says...
6:33pm Mon 7 May 12
There is obviously a need for a Spanish bi-lingual school here, otherwise it wouldn't have been viable. I was surprised that we have so many Spanish speaking parents here (or even parents who want their children to learn Spanish as a second language) who supported the opening of this school.
Which Free Schools or Academies in England have so far charged school fees?
HJarrs
says...
8:01pm Mon 7 May 12
lindi_lmf wrote:Yes, I realise that foreign languages are not on the curriculum. I am all for multi-language schools. My question is; can multi-lingual eductation be incorporated into existing schools without having to set up new ones? If not, why not?
Probably because the foreign language curriculum in current primary schools is non existent.
There is obviously a need for a Spanish bi-lingual school here, otherwise it wouldn't have been viable. I was surprised that we have so many Spanish speaking parents here (or even parents who want their children to learn Spanish as a second language) who supported the opening of this school.
Which Free Schools or Academies in England have so far charged school fees?
In my opinion, Free Schools are going to be problematic. In combination with Academies local people have pretty much lost control over schooling other than to pay tax, plus it is a nightmare to plan. I have no doubt that, as free standing entities, there will be many in the Tory party eager to get schools hived off from the state. So, free at point of use, but the tax payer is soaked to make profits. Also, what happens when the keen parents who set up a school move on?
lindi_lmf says...
2:27pm Mon 7 May 12