Frequently asked questions

We find that we're often asked similar questions, so we've tried to answer a selection of the most common below. If you can't find an answer to your question here, please contact us.

What is the Greenwich Free School and how is it different?

The first big difference is that we are a smaller, more personal school, where teachers really get to know every pupil as an individual. This means they can challenge and nurture our pupils more effectively. We operate tutor groups of 25 pupils and have no more than 100 pupils in each year group.

Our ethos is also a very important part of how we distinguish ourselves. Our 'no excuses' approach to attitude, work and discipline means we have very high expectations of all our pupils - and staff!

In concrete terms, though, we offer Greenwich children access to the kind of opportunities more normally found at leading independent schools:

• an extended school day from 8:00 to 5:30, so they spend a third more time learning

• a wide range of daily extra-curricular activities to excite them and provide the kind of fun ways to learn that help develop the skills they need to do well in their other subjects

• a more personalised and flexible curriculum that focuses on depth rather than breadth

• investing a greater proportion of our budget in great teachers

We think that taken together, that's quite an exciting proposition for Greenwich children!

Why did you open this school in Greenwich?

Several of our founders live and work in Greenwich, so we feel passionate about the local area. We also believe there is room for the type of school we have established.

Greenwich doesn't have any other schools like ours. The average school size in Greenwich is 1140, whereas we will have no more than 700 at full capacity (including 200 in the sixth form). Before we opened, there were no small, non-denominational, secondary schools in the borough.

You are new and unproven: what makes you confident you will succeed?

GFS is a small, local school that sets high expectations for pupils and staff and offers the kind of opportunities that make a difference at the top schools - an extended school day, lots of extra-curricular activities, a focus on mastering the fundamentals and investing in recruiting and developing great teachers.

Our proposal is based on what has been proven to work - in London and around the world. Schools like King Solomon Academy, Mossbourne Academy and the Harris chain of schools all follow a very similar approach to ours, and have achieved great results for London children.

Internationally, we have taken a lot of inspiration from the experience of the successful 'KIPP' charter schools in the US. They take 85% of their pupils from low-income families but achieve a 95% graduation rate with 85% of pupils going to college.

We have also hired a superb staff body - with exceptional track records. And we've assembled an outstanding Board of Governors, including a National Leader of Education, a Barrister and professionals from some of the world's top companies: Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and Clifford Chance.

We have also partnered with Dr Challoner's Grammar School to provide educational advice and support as we grow to scale. Dr Challoner's is one of the best state schools in the country: in 2012, the Financial Times listed it as the 7th best state school in the country (and 35th best school, including all independent schools).

Lord Adonis, the former Schools Minister, says: 'The teachers and staff at Greenwich Free School are passionate about the importance of education, and they combine their passion with great professionalism and skill. They will do their very best for your child.'

Rachel Wolf, Director of the New Schools' Network says: 'GFS is one of the country's most impressive and forward-thinking Free Schools, attracting considerable national attention and setting an exceptionally high quality bar for future Free Schools. I'm confident that its superb team will provide an outstanding education for the children of Greenwich.'

And if you're still not convinced, just to make sure, we commissioned a 'mock' Ofsted inspection by a pair of 'HMIs' (Her Majesty's Inspectors) in the summer of our first year. They agreed with our self-assessment that GFS was 'Outstanding' in every respect.

Will the Greenwich Free School harm other schools in Greenwich?

This is a common concern, but we don't think so: no. We hope the Greenwich Free School will work with other Greenwich schools - and the Local Authority - to provide more outstanding school places for the increasing number of Greenwich children.

We are are a smaller, non-denominational secondary school for Greenwich - something that didn't previously exist. So we hope we are simply giving local parents the choice to decide what type of school they would like their children to attend. With more than 640 applications for our 100 places to begin Year 7 in September 2013, this choice has proven popular.

We receive the same funding, per pupil, as any other school: we're just offering parents a different way for the state to invest in their children.

Why did you set up a Free School?

Many of our founders are teachers and school governors. We used to see things about the school system that we wanted to improve. In 2010 we were given the chance to step up and deliver.

What qualifies you to do this?

We've put together a diverse group of teachers, local parents and professionals - ranging from retired and current headteachers, deputy and assistant headteachers and 'Outstanding' classroom teachers - through to lawyers, financial consultants, a doctor, a diplomat and Oxford academics. This gives us a wide range of skills to build a great new school.

What are Free Schools and are they a good idea?

This is probably more a question for the Department of Education than for us! We are a group who are passionate about education and wanted to set up a new, outstanding, school for children in Greenwich. The Free School programme lets us do that, whereas we wouldn't otherwise be able to volunteer our time in this way. We hope that the end result will be a great new school for Greenwich from which thousands of children will benefit over the years.

In terms of what a Free School is, though, the DfE has published this handy video to explain.

Free Schools are funded by the government, so parents do not pay anything to send their child to a Free School and groups running Free Schools cannot make a profit.

Although the government funds Free Schools, because they are a type of Academy, they can do things differently from other state schools. For example, they can follow a different curriculum, or change the length of the school day. Just like any other school, though, they are still inspected by Ofsted to make sure they achieve high standards.

Free Schools must be open to pupils of all abilities and cannot be academically selective. Like at GFS, parents normally apply to a Free School in the same way as for any other school.

The Greenwich Free School was one of the second ever groups of Free Schools to open and welcomed our first cohort of Year 7 pupils in September 2012. We will grow to our full size of 700 pupils by 2018.