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Hear
About the Application We Submitted on 24th February 2012
We invite paretns that registered thier commitment, and those yet to do so,
to learn about the opportunity for parents in the area to send their children to a New Free Non Selective Co educational School
(with a Catholic Ethos) in Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and surrounding areas, that will open in September
2013, if our Application is successful. Learn
about the Application that we be presented to the Department for Education on 24th February 2012 to establish
a New Free School in Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross, opening in September 2013. Gain
an additional educational option for your children. Give
us your Feedback and receive answers to your Questions. Help
us define the ethos of the New Free School. Support
our Project by informing others in the Parish, District, churches and other local schools.
This New Free School will enable the parents
of approximately five hundred children within commuting distance to select to send their children to a non-charging “Free
School” that has a Catholic ethos. Parents and children do not have to be Catholic to gain admission to this school.
We welcome childrne of al faiths and no faith. Our preferred site is the former
Holy Cross School in Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross but our Application doe snot rely on that optio to be successful. We
have identified two other options in Chalfont St Peter .
About
Free Schools: Free to Parents, Free of Local Authority Control, Bigger Budgets
Following changes in education legislation in England in 2009, the Government has
encouraged parents and other groups to open Academies and institute Free Schools that are independent from local Authority
control, which will be set up and managed by Governors, including parents, and funded directly by central Government. The
Government has asked the new Free Schools to identify suitable premises in their locality, but they are not allowed to negotiate
to buy them: the Government has a specific budget for that.For
schools opening in September 2013, enough parents need to demonstrate by 13th February 2012 that they desire a
school with an ethos that is not currently locally available to them. The Act specifically enables different types of school,
including “Faith-based” schools. The Schools can have an admission policy that specifies that 50% of intake is
of Catholic faith and 50% for others faiths and no faith. No financial contribution is required from the parents. Grants are
available to refurbish and extend the school if required. The Government has committed budgets for creating a greater number
of new Free Schools in 2012 and 2013, and stated that funds are available to acquire premises. Over sixty New Free Schools were approved in 2011 across England, including
St Michael’s Catholic School in Truro, which was formerly an independent secondary school run by an Order of Nuns that
decide to stop running the School. The Archdiocese of Cornwall supported that application.
An
Additional Option for Parents: A Catholic Secondary School in Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross
This Project seeks to establish a school with
an ethos that is faith-based, so that the children of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Chalfont St Peter and children
from other local Catholic and non-Catholic schools and those with no faith are able to join a smaller school with a caring
Catholic ethos. The
key benefits to parents and children are that they will be able to seek admission to a smaller school with a Catholic ethos.
They
will have an alternative to joining the local non-selective large schools or travelling large distances every day to Wycombe
and Slough.
For
More Information: Pleasesee
the FAQ and Ethos page son this site or contact us on info@freeschoolgerrardscross.org or call us on
01753 892015 for more information
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