Strictly Private & Confidential Application to the Secretary of State for Education to open a mainstream secondary Free School in Hackney rd 23 February 2012 1 Strictly Private & Confidential TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page Executive Summary 3 Section A. Applicant Details 21 Section B. Outline of the School 27 Section C. Education Vision 29 Section D. Education Plan 47 Section E. Evidence of Demand and Marketing 235 Section F. Capacity and Capability 277 Section G. Initial Costs and Financial Viability 335 Section H. Premises 348 I. Due Diligence & Other Checks 365 Appendices 366 2 Strictly Private & Confidential EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This section summarises the main points about the educational vision, curriculum design and other elements of HNS education and financial plan in accordance with the guidelines set out in the DfE “Free Schools in 2013 - How to apply” application manual for mainstream and 16-19 Free Schools. Section A and B contain information about the applicant and an outline of HNS, respectively. The main body of the application is in Sections C-H of this document, and the core message of each of these sections is summarised in the following tables. C. Education Vision Table 1. Evaluation Criteria – Education Vision Evaluation Criteria Evidence C1 Provide a clearly focused, • HNS will be a mixed, non-denominational coherent vision that underpins school for 11-19 year olds with a specialism the application with a in music compelling rationale for • The core vision for HNS is “to provide establishing the school. students with access to the widest range of opportunities in life by fostering academic excellence and instilling self-belief, intellectual curiosity and responsibility towards others in society” • The rationale for HNS is based on a) the introduction of a new, innovating teaching and learning model with complete mixed- ability teaching and b) providing an outstanding education to, and changing the lives of, pupils particularly from deprived or disadvantaged backgrounds • Distinctive features of the curriculum will include the focus on music (a GCSE subject for all pupils), an extended day (0730-1800), “Teaching Mornings” and “Study Afternoons”, the organisation of pupils, distinctive subjects emphasizing oral debate and enquiry, outstanding teachers and the extensive HNS Support Network • The HNS Support Network comprises comprehensive provision of children with special needs (SEN, LAC, EAL, disabilities), an Early Development Group, a tutorial network for pupils, peer-to-peer teaching 3 Strictly Private & Confidential and learning, evening and summer schools, and the HNS Wellbeing Centre for children with emotional and behavioural disorders. We believe this support network, together with the education plan for HNS and somewhat smaller class sizes, will help achieve our vision for all students irrespective of their attainment levels when they join HNS D. Education Plan Table 2. Evaluation Criteria – Education Plan Evaluation Criteria Evidence D1 Set out a viable curriculum • HNS will provide a broad and balanced plan with appropriate focus on curriculum focused on music, the English core areas of learning Baccalaureate subjects and additional options (for instance in advanced maths/statistics and an additional MFL) to enable all students to take 10 GCSEs at the end of Key Stage 4, and 5 A/AS levels by Key Stage 5 • These essential subjects will be complemented by a range of enrichment activities, an innovative debate-based introduction to the history of ideas called “The Core”, and public performances to promote confidence and team work • The instructional model of HNS combines personalised teaching and learning with backward planning. Backward planning combines challenging goals at KS4 and KS5 with rigorous instruction and regular assessments to ensure that students are always on a path to achieving these goals during their time at HNS • An innovative Virtual Learning Environment will, in partnership with Google and the Google Teachers Network, provide a a flexible and modern ICT infrastructure to support teaching and learning • The HNS Wellbeing Centre and other elements of pastoral care, including dietary provision and the schedule of PE activities, will ensure that children with different needs are looked after and all of them can lead a 4 Strictly Private & Confidential healthy life at HNS D2 Provide a coherent and • HNS shall become a home away from home feasible school timetable and for its pupils: this involves a long-school day calendar (0730/0800-1800), 38 weeks of school per year (39 for teachers) and Summer School; HNS will be open on Saturdays for tutorial programmes or performances • Lessons will take place during the “Teaching Mornings”, containing generally 6 lessons at 50 minutes each • “Study Afternoons” will combine traditional with interactive study periods and activities. They will be broken up by enrichment activities (3 hours per week in KS3) and a break, and include tutorials where necessary (e.g. Early Development Group in Years 7-8, GCSE Tutorials, etc.) • Pupils will be organised primarily horizontally for teaching programmes and vertically (across year groups) for pastoral care and HNS support programmes. The school will be divided into 6 houses (at full capacity) through which tutorial support will be provided. There will be ample student representation to integrate pupils into a system of accountability and responsibility at HNS • HNS will provide mixed-ability teaching because it supports peer-to-peer learning, is socially beneficial for child development and consistent with HNS’ admissions policies (we believe there is no evidence that academic setting achieves better outcomes) • Each student will have a personalised learning pathway (“PLP”) which will be supervised by his/her tutor and guide them through their studies to achieve Core Outcomes (which are the same for all) • Students will receive most lessons in the same class room, with teachers moving around between lessons. This is more effective logistically and supports a number of HNS objectives. • Including tutorial lessons during the Study Afternoon there will be 35 lessons of learning experience per week in KS3 and KS5, and 38 lessons in KS4. D3 Set out a clear strategy for • HNS strategy for children with differing ensuring that the needs of abilities focuses on a) identification of needs 5 Strictly Private & Confidential pupils with differing abilities are b) intelligent, targeted and personalised met intervention and c) effective supervision to ensure compliance with requirements and ensure all students are on track to achieve Core Outcomes • HNS will have specific intervention programmes and policies for children with SEN (with and without statements), EBD, children with EAL, pupils with disabilities, gifted & talented as well as looked-after children. Ca 28% of Hackney secondary school children have some type of SEN, while 51% are EAL-classified. We expect HNS’ pupil intake to reflect this composition. • HNS’ VLE will be used to adapt SEN student’s PLP to their specific requirements, e.g. by providing online cognition and learning programmes or speech therapy modules • This section of the application contains a description of how HNS will comply with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice D4 Tell us how your definitions • HNS will pursue a set of a) strategic targets and measures of success will for the school as a whole and b) individual deliver your aspirations for targets and indicators for success for all of pupil achievement its pupils • Some of the strategic targets are that HNS will have an ‘Outstanding’ rating from Ofsted (based on the new January 2012 guidelines) and that KS4 and KS5 performance is in the top-10% of all state schools nationally (including Academies and Free Schools) • Individual targets include that 100% of students achieve Level 6 in English and Maths at the end of Key Stage 3, FSM attainment levels are the same as for non- FSM children, outstanding behavioural standards, high levels of community engagement and a (small) financial surplus is achieved every year • These targets are suitable for HNS because the performance threshold rises in line with a national improvement (if any), and they reflect the expected student intake as well as the particular teaching and learning model at HNS that is designed to achieve the same Core Outcomes for all students irrespective of their level of attainment at Year 7. 6 Strictly Private & Confidential • Our strategy for achieving HNS’ targets relies, inter alia, on a focus on music and performance, strong leadership from outstanding teachers, the combination of challenging goals and personalised learning, supportive student organisation, an innovative curriculum design with long Study Afternoons and a culture of “tough love” that encourages performance and insists on collegial discipline • HNS will have a performance management system to monitor progress which is based on peer evaluation, self-evaluation, line management and accountability, continuous professional development and inter-school comparisons • The pupil assessment and tracking system is based on a) regular assessments (weekly) b) regular goal setting and c) rewards for good performance D5 Describe your admissions • HNS’ admissions policy will be based on the policy, confirming commitment new School Admissions Code (“SAC”), the to fair and transparent School Admissions Appeals Code and admissions practices admissions law and will “that the practices and the criteria used to