Extracts from a note from county council staff

The County Council’s Cabinet agreed to the purchase of the current University of Hertfordshire building on Hatfield Road in order to accommodate a new school in St Albans city centre. You may also be aware that the government has made clear that they expect all new schools to be Free schools or academies.

We are working closely with and supporting a group of parents and educationalists who are promoting a Free school at this location. This group is headed by a retired headteacher of an outstanding central St Albans Primary School and also includes other local parents and educationalists. The group proposes to open a 2 f.e. primary school using HCC admission criteria to ensure the school serves the local community. For clarity, this is not the same as the proposal from the Albany Montessori group, who are also looking to set up a school in St Albans.

All Free school proposals have to be approved by the Department for Education, and the window to submit proposals for a September 2012 opening is between 16 May and 1 June. As such the group is now actively promoting itself within the local community via website, posters and a leaflet (which will be made available next week).

If you want to learn more about the proposed school, you can visit this website www.albancityschool.org.uk. There is also an online survey for pre-school age parents to show their support for the proposal, which is hosted on the HCC website.