Newsbite #4: Application Submitted!
9 November 2018
Our application is now complete and the Department for Education (DfE) have confirmed that they have received it from the leadership team at our partner school, Fulham Boys School.
It has taken many months of work and has benefited from the input and feedback of so many different people from across the community. This has been essential for the production of a school model, which we hope will serve the local community and be a beacon of excellence.
We hope DfE are as excited by our proposal as we are! If so we will be invited to an interview in January, with a final decision being known by Spring 2019.
We need your continued help
You can continue to help us persuade the DfE to approve our plans. The more support we have for the school, the more likely Cornerstone is to get approval.
One way to show the DfE the level of support for the school is from website signups, and Twitter and Facebook followers. Please make sure you are following us, and share our proposal with anyone else you think may be interested.
We now have the enormous task of ensuring our flyers are delivered to all households in the area that may have primary school aged children whose parents haven’t heard of our proposal and would like to register their interest.
View the flyer here.
Please get in touch with us if you are willing to spare a little time to help with this!
Newsbite #3: Ofsted / SIAMS reports for FBS
26 October 2018
This week we have had further meetings to finalise our Application, which will be submitted to the DfE next week. We believe we have made a strong case for the need for a new Secondary School in Huntingdonshire, with a Christian ethos.
So what can you expect from Cornerstone Free School if our application is successful?
In the process of writing our application, we have had the privilege of gaining an insight into running a successful, oversubscribed Christian Secondary school, through working closely with the Headteacher and Chair of governors at Fulham Boys School in London.
We have visited the school and been shown round by pupils, who were polite, courteous and extremely proud of their school. All who visited were extremely impressed with the academic excellence, the obviously engaging, innovative teaching and the care the school shows for every single individual pupil. One of those who went to Fulham Boys School commented:
“Never mind sending my children there, I’d send me there!”
It is safe to say that the children at Fulham Boys School are safe, happy, engaged, achieving and exposed to excellent curriculum teaching coupled with a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. What more could you want from a Secondary school?
We have also had to break down the most recent Fulham Boys School Ofsted and SIAMS (church) Inspection reports as part of our application. The findings of these reports inspire us to want to provide a similar, exceptional education experience for teenagers in Huntingdonshire:
- Pupils are aspirational for their future.
- They are encouraged to be enterprising and independent through a range of activities both in school and in the wider community.
- The Core Curriculum is academically strong.
- Staff are very proud to work at the school and are fully committed to the aspirational ethos.
- The headteacher has created a school which aims to achieve academic and personal excellence for all.
- Boys live and breathe good manners and courtesy.
As one parent stated in response to the Ofsted survey:
‘In Fulham Boys School, my son has not only excelled academically, but he is growing into a well-rounded young man.’
View the full inspection reports here:
Ofsted Report
SIAMS Report
Having been to Fulham and experienced their school first-hand, this is just what we want Cornerstone to offer in the Huntingdonshire area.
Our partnership with Fulham Boys School gives us confidence that we can provide the same outstanding level of education.
Newsbite #2: A-Levels
18 October 2018
As the deadline for our school submission is now less than 2 weeks away, we need to finalise our application.
Our intention is to provide education from age 11 right up to 19.
However the Department for Education are suggesting that no new schools should offer A-levels due to funding cuts.
Do you agree that CFS should offer A-levels?
If you agree that we need more A-level provision in the local area, please click the link below to register your details, showing your support for Cornerstone offering A-levels.
If we don’t get strong support from the community we will be forced to drop A-levels from our plan.
If you have already registered, please refer to your Newsbite #2 email, which has a link to allow you to register your support for A-levels.
Newsbite #1: Open Consultation Meetings
11 October 2018
On Monday 8th we held our first open consultation meetings. It was very good to see the range of community representation and potential stakeholders in our school in attendance, including headteachers, LEA representatives and local district Councillors.
It was a real pleasure to welcome prospective students, and their parents. We particularly want to engage with those whose educational opportunities we are investing in and so it was good to be able to do this. One parent commented:
“We would have signed up for the school on the spot, if we could!”
As we have come to expect, Alun Ebenezer (headmaster of our partner school) delivered an inspiring presentation – exactly what moved us to this project in the first place!
Do you wonder what inspired the quote above? Watch the video of the presentation to find out exactly why you would want your child to benefit from the ethos and curriculum aims of Cornerstone Free School.
Questions were raised afterwards about the potential site. At present we are working with the LEA and local stakeholders to establish the optimum location for the school to benefit as many students as possible.
We also take into account where the greatest interest for our school comes from, and so we continue to encourage anyone interested to register on our website. By registering your interest, you are not making a firm commitment to enroll in our school – neither does it guarantee you a place, if our proposal is approved.
We will hope to provide further clarity on the site as soon as possible – look out for further newsbites!
