News / Education
New free school for Bristol to open next year
A new school aiming to cater for pupils with behavioural issues will open next September, as part of a new wave of the government’s controversial free school programme.
The bid to open the Bristol Futures Academy (BFA) was made by Weston College and was approved by the Department for Education this week.
A search is now on for a home for the school, which is expected to open in September 2015.
In the first phase, 25 pupils aged between 14 and 16 will attend BFA, rising to 100 pupils as the provision develops.
Specialist academic and vocational courses will be provided, as will mentoring to help pupils develop work skills and gain work experience placements.
Dr Paul Phillips OBE, Weston College principal, said: “This is excellent news, both for the college and the Bristol pupils we will now be able to support. We believe that all young people are entitled to an inspiring and engaging education which will enable them to aspire to and achieve meaningful and productive futures, both in terms of careers and in personal independence and an ability to make a positive contribution to society.”
Free Schools are state funded schools that are independent of local authority control. They have the freedom to decide the length of the school day and term, the curriculum, teachers’ pay and how they spend their budgets.
There are currently 251 open free schools, and a further 112 are in the pipeline. Once all of these schools are fully up and running they will provide around 200,000 extra school places to pupils across the country.
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