Charity bids for cash to set up free school

The Albion Foundation, which already offers education to children and teenagers who have behavioural problems, poor school attendance, those in care and those with disabilities, hopes to set up a free school which will cater for 80 aged four to 16. The school is funded by the taxpayer and is free to attend but not controlled by the local authority.

The Foundation is based at the former Galton Valley Museum on Brasshouse Lane whilst £2.5 million development work is undertaken at their former Halfords Lane site.

The charity hopes to submit the application in December and if approved it will opened in September 2014. Foundation director Rob Lake said the aim of the free school is to build on what they already do at the Foundation and provide alternative education to young people that would benefit from a different environment to school.

As well as offering academic lessons, they give the youngsters vocational opportunities and the pastoral care and support they need. By becoming a free school, it will have a more secure funding stream which will not only ensure they can cater for the numbers of children they want to, but give more security to the staff they employ.

He said: "We have consulted with schools from around the region, and we have established there is a need for this kind of alternative provision. The aim of the school is to get children back into main stream education. We do not envisage taking young children into the school for long periods of time." He added: "We will not be setting up this school in competition with anyone else, it's aim is to complement other schools, and we will work with them."