Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to give free schools more flexibility on requirements relating to (a) the involvement of volunteers and (b) provision of flexi-school places.

Mr Edward Timpson

Volunteers in free schools, like maintained schools, can work alongside paid staff members to offer a range of skills and experience that can enhance pupils’ learning. We encourage skilled members of the community to take up a range of voluntary roles in schools from being governors to listening to children read. The Government has reformed child protection policies to remove bureaucracy and enable managers to use their judgement about the checks and supervision required for each individual depending on their circumstances.

The free school programme encourages innovation and the decision to offer flexi-school places or how to deploy volunteers is one for individual head teachers. However, the free school criteria requires all applicants to meet rigorous standards including demonstrating how they would ensure a high quality education for every pupil and outlining a sustainable staffing structure.