New school could ease education crisis
A Sussex education group from Mid Sussex is looking to set up a new school at the former Haywards Heath Sixth Form College site.
In a bid to ease the looming education crisis, the Hugh Latimer Free School would provide secondary and sixth form education to boys and girls based in Crawley, Lewes and Mid Sussex Districts.
If successful, the school would be established in partnership with Fulham Boys School in London.
Free schools were introduced in 2010 by the government and, according to the Department of Education, “the programme has played an important part in creating thousands of good new school places for children”. They are the best performing secondary schools based on 2017 results.
Geoffrey Main, an Ofsted inspector who heads the steering group, explained how his group wants Hugh Latimer to recreate the success of Fulham Boys School.
He said: “The school is in a working class area surrounded by high rise social housing and yet the standards at the school are on par with independent schools.
“There are now six applicants for every place. We came away thinking, this is excellence in education — we would like to do it too.”
Hugh Latimer would help provide additional education for Crawley, which has seven secondary schools. Pupil numbers in the borough are predicted to rise from 8,022 in 2018 to 10,031 in 2025. One free school has been approved this year in Crawley, but a site has not been found.
Lewes has three secondaries, including the Priory School, due to 56 percent of the district being part of the South Downs National Park. The Hugh Latimer site would go into the northern villages and eastern fringes of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, which are in the Lewes district.
The Department for Education says a free school application must meet the criteria set by the government. This states that there is “a basic need for a high proportion of the additional school places that the free school will provide”.
A free school must target areas having the “lowest standards and lowest capacity to improve”. The Crawley and Lewes districts both fall into these categories.
Hugh Latimer strives to be “outstanding in all aspects and nurture students of every background to fulfil their potential”, states the Hugh Latimer website. Every pupil will learn about Christian values and the school will be open to all faiths and none.
There will be longer school days with the last hour focusing on co-curricular activities such as sport and music rehearsals.
Ian Kenton, an investment manager from Lindfield, welcomed this news. He said: “I think it has to be a good thing, especially with the growth that is happening in and around Haywards Heath. People have to have education that is close by and easily accessible.”
Moira Welch, an office manager from Haywards Heath, added: “I think we do need more local schools to encourage young people to stay in education. If all the schools close down and they have to travel further afield to Crawley, or to other places, they might be discouraged from staying in further education.”
If the submitted plans are approved, the school would have a pre-opening in 2019 with the first intake of year 7 students starting in September 2020. Hugh Latimer would have approximately 120 students per year group and A Levels would be offered by 2025.
