Priors Marston first to open as ‘free’ school
A WARWICKSHIRE school will open today (Monday) as the first of the Government’s new ‘free schools’.
But for the Priors School in Priors Marston, freedom from local authority control is nothing new.
Kept open by parents and villagers in 1996 after Warwickshire County Council withdrew funding, the school, which serves Priors Marston and Priors Hardwick, has raised money to pay for staff and upkeep ever since.
Seizing the chance of a stable income, it was among the first to apply for free school status and opened for staff training last Thursday to ensure it remained the first.
Chairman of the Priors Education Trust David Adams said: “Although we were the first free school 15 years ago we want to retain our credentials.”
The school has raised around £200,000 every year in recent years to pay for staff, setting up charity shop in Daventry and its own nursery to pay for the costs of the school.
With the agreement signed last week, Mr Adams said Government funding meant it could invest in computers and improving its classrooms.
It also means the school will be able to take children from other villages without charging them fees.
State primary schools nearby had protested against this, fearing competition could divert pupils and money away from them, but Mr Adams sought to reassure them.
He said: “We are only going to increase our numbers by about 20 pupils over five years. There are about 12 villages within six or seven miles of here so it works out as less than a pupil per school on average.”
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Weather for Leamington
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
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