A GREEN School for Boys would help meet the demand for secondary places in Isleworth, a headteacher has claimed.
Governors of the Green School for Girls in Isleworth are consulting on plans to open a sister – or should that be brother – school nearby in September 2015.
Headteacher Pam Butterfield said: “There’s a demand for secondary school places across the borough and there seem to be a lot of parents who are really keen for a Church of England boys’ school.”
The new free school would initially have four forms of entry, increasing to six forms, should it get the go-ahead. It would provide a CofE-based education for Christians, people of other faiths and those of no religion.
The proportion of places reserved for children from a CofE background has yet to be decided, but the existing girls school saves just under three quarters of places for practising Christians.
Governors want the boys’ school, for which a formal application has yet to be submitted to the government, to be within a 10-minute walk of the existing school.
A Sikh free school is set to open in Isleworth this September, with half the places reserved for pupils of that faith, and St George’s Church in Hanworth has announced plans for a CofE primary school to open in September 2015.
London Assembly member Stephen Knight has backed the Fair Admissions Campaign to ensure all state-funded schools are open to all children, regardless of their religion.
“I don’t think the state should be funding new schools which aren’t open on an equal basis to everyone, especially when there’s a big shortage of places in London,” he said.
Existing voluntary-aided faith schools can set their own admissions policies but free schools are limited to allocating 50 per cent of places on religious grounds.
