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Failing free school told to close

One of the Government's flagship free schools - Discovery New School in Crawley, West Sussex - has been ordered to close amid continuing concerns about the standard of education it is offering.

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Parent predicted problems at failing free school

Parent Samantha Bateman withdrew her two sons from Discovery New School at the start of the school year because she predicted there would be problems:

I'm devastated for the parents, but I'm also devastated for the kids, and I'm very angry that all this has happened.

Right from the word go I could see problems. I could see this coming. The first thing that I noticed was that a lot of family and friends connected with the school were running it.

There was no oversight and this didn't seem quite right. We were promised an individualised programme so that our children could learn at their own pace, and that there would be small classes.

They said there would be a real community spirit and that it would be child-centred. Everything they promised wasn't delivered.

– Samantha Bateman, parent
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Failing free school told to close

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