Thames Valley Free School Update

THAMES VALLEY FREE SCHOOL UPDATE

The team attended for interview at the Department for Education last week. They were subjected to 90 minutes of close and technical questioning which should at least give us some reassurance that as tax payers, our money is not being invested in free schools without due diligence! The team was led by the NAS Chief Executive Mark Lever and special thanks to Jennie Tuck who joined the team as a representative from Reading BC. Impressions are that the interview went well and we are now feeling optimistic for the outcome, which we expect some time around July.

 

The previous Saturday we held our Open Drop-in Day at Reading Town Hall and Museum, providing an opportunity for anyone who was interested to come and find out more about our plans for the school.Again, Jennie helped us out and thanks also to Sue Kedar who also gave up her morning to join the team.

 

Before the event we really weren't sure if we'd be talking to ourselves all morning but as it turned out we had a non-stop stream of families and also a good number of curious teachers. In all, we had around 120 visitors and the overwhelming reaction to our plans was positive. Moreover, a good proportion of the parents expressed an interest in supporting the school as either a volunteer or as a governor. We were able to talk about this Open Day during our interview at the DfE and it was a great help to demonstrate the demand for a resource of this nature and to show that, having submitted our application, we are still working to make the school a success.

 

We now hope to have further good news in a few months time!

 

Bruce

 

Bruce Thompson

Capital Projects Manager

National Autistic Society

393 City Rd

London 

EC1V 1NG

07717 336430