Can mums and dads run their own school?

Two decades ago, a group of parents disillusioned with the way their children were being taught in the state sector got together to start somewhere new.

With a perception there was a lack of discipline and an undermining of moral values in Worcester's mainstream, the parents raised £150,000 to set up a school to get their children taught independently.

They wanted more discipline and, as they were all Christians, a re-enforcement of their moral values.

Last week, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly expressed her desire to see the end of dominance of state education by inviting other groups to open and run schools.

A White Paper this autumn will include radical proposals to replace failing schools with ones run by parents, companies or charities.

Whether parent-run schools are a good or bad thing will remain a matter of conjecture, but those in charge at The River School, Droitwich Road, see it as recognition, 20 years too late, that the state system does not have all the answers.

And they cite bullying, truancy and even marriage breakdowns as evidence of that.

Graham Coyle, one of three headteachers at the school, is adamant that the state cannot provide all the answers but wonders whether Ms Kelly's idea is too little, too late.

"The trouble is, for years and years, the Government has been saying 'We know how to run schools. We've got all the answers'," he said. "The result is that many schools are in a dreadful state and now they are saying, 'We'll give the money to parents to run schools, even though we've been saying for 20 years you're unable to'.

"After 20 years here, our hard work has been rewarded. But it remains to be seen whether other schools will go this way because there's just so much opposition from teachers, unions and the parents themselves who will now be flummoxed when it comes to running a school."

Supporters of the idea hope parents will have a vested interest in academic success in the schools they run, but they will also be able to decide the values underpinning it.

The River School describes itself as "operating from a Christian perspective", although Mr Coyle baulks at the term 'faith school'. "Every school is a 'faith school'", he says. "Elgar (College in Worcester) has a position of faith, because if it's not teaching there is a god, or there might be a god, that's the faith.

"Every school teaches certain things about religion. The difference is, we are much more honest about what we are telling people. We believe in God and it gives us a strong sense of purpose."

Mr Coyle and his colleagues believe the state school system is in decline and the consequences are there for all to see in society.

"Education is the responsibility of parents, not the school or the state," he said.

"But the state sector is left to pick up the pieces when the family structure is in crisis.

"If next door's kid has been successful at The River School, if their marriage and relationships haven't broken down, if they can hold a job down - but you're screaming at your own kids and can't cope - that's how our reputation grows."

There is a lot of emphasis on traditional values and discipline, all the pupils stand up when a headteacher walks into a classroom for instance.

Many of the children have attended mainstream schools and have been victims of bullying or succumbed to what Mr Coyle calls the 'negativism and cynicism' in the state sector.

James, aged 14, said: "I really like it here, the way things are run and the organisation is better than my old school. I didn't like the way people acted towards you at my old school and people are much nicer."

It's something that his classmate Sam, agrees with: "I've been here since Year 4 and I've made some really good friends. I didn't really have any friends at my old school. Here the teachers are nice and not as strict."

Being educated through the Christian faith in a school with fewer than 200 pupils may not be every parents' first choice.

But there will be others for whom it is, and if that choice increases, maybe that's the point.

THE RIVER SCHOOL: THE FACTS

THE River School is an example of what the Government now wants other parents to follow.

The school was set up in 1985 with 35 pupils and, after reaching a peak of 200, now has 160 students between the ages of three and 16.

Fees are £3,000 per year, which provides nearly all of the school's funding, and it does not select pupils according to ability.

This year, 94 per cent of pupils left with at least five GCSEs at grade C or above.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "I am interested in seeing how we can work with a variety of potential not-for-profit organisations - educational charities, faith and parents' groups - in order to drive the next phase of reform.

"Councils don't add value through micro-managing heads, employing the teachers or owning the bricks and the land that schools sit on."

n What do you think? Should parents be offered the opportunity to run their own schools? Write to: Letters Editor, Worcester News, Hylton Road, Worcester WR2 5JX, or email letters@thisisworcester.co.uk

BLACKBOARD

More students are choosing to study a new language

LAST week we reported on the decline of language learning in schools because they are no longer compulsory GCSE subjects.

We featured Jennifer Wilde from Warndon Villages, Worcester, who recorded one of the country's highest scores in German, and is continuing her education at Worcester Sixth Form College.

Peter Curbishley, head of languages at the college, writes: "While it is true that numbers taking languages at GCSE level in some local high schools will fall, there is as yet no evidence that there will be a corresponding fall in the numbers of students, like Jenny, seeking to continue with languages.

"We have seen a significant rise in student numbers in AS French and Spanish this year, while our German A-level numbers are the highest since 2001," he said.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the age spectrum, one Worcestershire school is making sure its children start early.

In response to last week's article, Paul Kilgallon, headteacher of Eldersfield Lawn Primary School, in Corse Lawn, in the south of the county, wrote to say his school is part of a network of five partner schools across Europe and is teaching German to its four and five-year-olds.

"The children just soak it up and, at that age, their brains are designed for learning languages.

"It means that, by the time they get to secondary school, they're not embarrassed to speak a foreign language in front of the class."

Children need lessons in play

ONCE upon a time we dreamed of being train drivers, astronauts or nurses when we grew up.

But no more, it seems. Young children are being denied the chance to play and pretend because they spend so much time learning to read and write, according to new research.

Role-play games such as pretending to be train drivers or police officers are essential to help children learn how to make friends and develop their imagination, according to the University of Plymouth.

But the pressures of the formal primary school curriculum, apparently means there is too little time for play.

The study, published by the Economic and Social Research Council, called for more outdoor play space in schools.

Research leader Sue Rogers said: "Pressures on time and space, as well as the need to teach literacy, means that playing at shops, pirates and hospitals is difficult to fit into the timetable."