News / Education

New free school for Bristol

By Louis Emanuel  Wednesday Jan 6, 2016


Work is due to start on Bristol’s latest free school which is set to open in Barton Hill in September.

The Bristol Futures Academy (BFA) will provide specialist one-to-one support for 100 pupils aged 16-18 with behavioural issues who struggle in mainstream schooling.

The school will be established in a former Victorian school house owned by the council on Beam Street, off Avonvale Road.

The school is being headed up by principal Caroline Down, a previous vice principal and acting principal at City Academy on Russell Town Avenue.

In the first phase, BFA will have 30 pupils and this will rise to 100 pupils as the school develops. All pupils will be referred to the school by the council or local schools, with some attending full-time and others on a part-time basis.

BFA will become the fourth free school to be opened in Bristol since former education secretary Michael Gove introduced the format.

The governors were yesterday named as Ishmael Velasco, Paul Taylor, Sadia Anderson, Jacqui Ford, Caroline Down, Poku Pipem Osei and Jane Taylor.

The academy will form part of the Inspirational Futures Trust, which is sponsored by Weston College.

Caroline Down, pictured centre with project consultant Asher Craig (far left), governors Ishmael Velasco (left), Paul Taylor (right) and Sadia Anderson (far right)

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