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News Desk London's Greek Orthodox population is one step closer to the establishment of a state funded “Free school” in north London following a meeting of prospective parents at a north London venue on Monday night. The government announced in July that the application of Saint Andrew the Apostle backed by the Russell Educational Trust was successful marking what some inside the Greek community of the capital have described as a “historic” development. Over 200 parents and interested parties attended a presentation by the Russell Education Trust the group behind the proposed Saint Andrew's the Apostle School outlining the schools ethos, admissions policy and issues relating to the site of the school. A Russell Trust spokesman said: "Underpinned by our Christian values, we will offer an expertly-delivered, high quality ‘traditional but current’ curriculum, drawing on best practice from independent and state schools nationally. We will support all students to achieve their greatest potential both academically and as creative, caring and responsible future adults. Our curriculum will be broad and balanced and will meet the needs of the full range of our students, developing them intellectually, socially, culturally, spiritually and morally." Saint Andrew's the Apostle secondary school will admit its first intake in 2013 with 150 places available and 50% of those places prioritised for children from the Greek Orthodox faith. The remainder of the places will be assessed on catchment and other Christian denominations or faiths if the school is oversubscribed. The issue of the site of the school was at the forefront of the concerns of many of the parents, with the Russell Educational Trust identifying the Trent Park site of Middlesex University as its "preferred" base. Talks with Enfield Council have still not been resolved, with representations by the Russell Educational Trust and the group behind St Andrew's expected to continue. However other commercial agents are looking for other sites in Enfield and Barnet according to the Russell Educational Trust. Concerns within the Greek community have emerged at the possible impact on existing "community schools" which have been serving the children of the diaspora Greeks for over forty years. The Russell Educational Trust stated that the community schools would still play a "vital role" providing a "cultural education" for children of the Greek community. All of the Greek Saturday schools have backed the proposals to see the establishment of Saint Andrew the Apostle. The Government has defined “Free school” as the "all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need to improve education for children in their community". They form one of the Government's flagship education policies. Links: http://www.standrewtheapostle.org.uk/
http://www.russelleducationtrust.org.uk/
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools
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