The doubts over whether they'll open their doors

For the majority of parents, the forthcoming start to the new school year is not problematic. but for others, hoping their children will be going to a free school, there may be a doubt.

In Bradford, two free schools are due to open next month – the Bradford Science Academy and the Rainbow Free School.

While new buildings are being prepared in Northside Road, Lidget Green, for the Science Academy, the idea is for staff and pupils to share the former Coral College building on Manningham Lane with the Rainbow School.

But will the schools open on time and, more importantly, will they be ready?

There is doubt about both. The building on Manningham Lane, adjacent to the Muslim M A Instititute and the Lumb Lane mosque, has big plastic posters announcing the opening of the Rainbow School. There are decks of scaffolding on three sides of it.

But from the outside at least there is little evidence of active conversion work going on inside to accommodate more than 300 pupils plus staff, in spite of the approach of the new term.

The Rainbow School said on its website that it had the names of at least 170 potential pupils and the backing of 236 parents. Bradford Science Academy, formerly the King’s Science Academy, said on its website that the school will open this September “to a seven-form entry of up to 140 Year 7 students”.

Not much more than that appears to be in the public domain. Bradford Council’s Children’s Services department said through a spokesman that the Science Academy had approximately 130 pupils, but they had no information about the Rainbow School.

Councillor Ralph Berry, chairman of children’s services on the Council’s executive committee, said: “Rainbow hasn’t got its funding in place, but the Science Academy is up and running.”

A spokesman for the Science Academy said: “We’re all set to open in September at the college in Manningham Lane. As far as I know work is being done.”

But asked if the academy had its funding in place, he said he was not in a position to answer that question.

In a previous T&A article, Coun Berry made clear that localism in education should mean the local authority and its partners “developing a way forward to meet Bradford’s particular circumstances, which are the need for pre-school English attainment and good parenting.”

In short, he’s willing to co-operate with a free school organisation where there is a planned and sensible way ahead based on the best use of public money because, he said, over the next four to five years, Bradford will need between 4,000 and 5,000 extra places for pupils.

Bradford East Liberal Democrat MP David Ward, who tried in vain in the House of Commons to find out the amount of public money being given to Bradford Science Academy, questions the stated purpose of these two schools.

He wants Education Secretary Michael Gove, the Government’s torch-bearer for free schools, to come to Bradford specifically to look at issues pertaining to teachers and communities.

Mr Ward said: “I want him to tell me how these two free schools that will effectively become private Muslim schools funded out of public money are going to help us with the segregation that already exists in Bradford education.

“It’s a nonsense and it’s disgraceful. We have a £56 million backlog of repairs to our school buildings and we are told no money is available; yet for free schools any amount of money is available. It’s outrageous and downright immoral.

“I am going to pursue these free schools because we have a right to know every single detail on staffing, health and safety regulations, building regulations and how every penny of public money they get is spent.”

A spokesman at the Asian Trade Link Yorkshire Ltd, the advisory group in Manningham Lane, said the Rainbow School had an interim head, deputy head and business manager.

The T&A tried to speak to Sajid Raza, principal of Bradford Science Academy, and to Ayub Ismail, at the Asian Trade Link. Neither has so far responded.