The Fresh Start programme, also known as the Fresh Start scheme, is an educational initiative in England, Wales and Northern Ireland introduced by the first Blair government in 1998. The programme aims to improve underperforming schools in

inner cities Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

by reopening them with renovated buildings and new names, curricula, staff and leadership (a "fresh start"). These schools, known as Fresh Start schools, benefit from an additional £400,000 every two years and have further financial support from their

local education authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902, which transferred education powers from school bo ...

Description

The Fresh Start programme was first proposed in the Labour manifesto for the 1997 general election. Schools deemed to be failing would be given a "fresh start", reopening with new names and leadership. Some would also fall under the control of successful schools located nearby. This was expanded by the newly elected Labour government's 1997 education

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

''Excellence in Schools''. The white paper cited the successful "fresh start" of Phoenix High School (previously Hammersmith School), which was failing until the appointment of William Atkinson as headteacher in 1995. Atkinson and the school's local education authority renovated the school's site and introduced a new uniform, name and administration. The first three Fresh Start schools reopened in September 1998; this number raised to ten by May 2000. As an alternative to a "fresh start", the programme has enabled education secretaries and local authorities, via the

School Standards and Framework Act 1998 The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair. This Act: * imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes. * abolished grant-maintained schools, introduci ...

, to close failing schools (their students moving to good schools close by) or merge them with another school. Some Fresh Start schools have been established from mergers. Another alternative is a "collaborative restart", where a failing school reopens with strong links to another school nearby. Under the

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

governments over 51 Fresh Start schools were created, of which 23 schools were

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

, 27 secondary and one

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

. More have been created since then, such as

Corelli College Leigh Academy Halley is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located on Corelli Road and near the Kidbrooke area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. It originally opened in 1954 as Kidbrooke Comprehensive Sc ...

, which was given a fresh start as

The Halley Academy Leigh Academy Halley is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located on Corelli Road and near the Kidbrooke area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. It originally opened in 1954 as Kidbrooke Comprehensive Sc ...

in 2018. To qualify for a fresh start, a school originally needed below 15% of its students to pass five

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

exams for three years in a row. This was raised to 30% by 2006. Typically, the school must also be in

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

or require improvement. Fresh Start schools are expected to improve within a year of reopening and are rigorously scrutinised by inspectors until they attain acceptable standards.

Implementation

The first three Fresh Start schools reopened in September 1998, the first of which was Blakelaw Comprehensive which reopened as Firfield Community School. The government invested £1.5 million into the school and appointed new leadership. More schools received a fresh start the next year, including George Orwell School which reopened as

Arts and Media School, Islington Arts and Media School Islington is a secondary school located in the Finsbury Park area of the London Borough of Islington. It is classified as a comprehensive trust foundation school and has been a specialist media arts college since 2003. Su ...

. The school's new headteacher Torsten Friedag earned an exceptional salary of £70,000 and was named Britain's first "super head". Super heads became a feature of the Fresh Start programme. After the resignation of three Fresh Start super heads in March 2000, Education Secretary

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...

began contemplating changes to the programme. Scepticism around the programme began to grow after the third super head was found to have resigned because of a failed attempt to hide a critical letter from her school. The letter criticised the school's expulsion and truancy rates and bad behaviour and morale. Blunkett warned that "the alternative to Fresh Start is closure." At the same time, he announced the

city academies A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

programme. The programme would improve failing schools in inner cities and was originally seen as an extension of Fresh Start, being introduced as a "radical relaunch" of the programme. City academies were supported by Torsten Friedag, one of the Fresh Start super heads who resigned. City academies were later renamed as

academies An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and became independent from Fresh Start. In April and June 2000 two Fresh Start schools, including Firfield Community School, began failing. Firfield had experienced a deficit of £200,000 due to low student numbers and had suffered from a loss of reputation and morale after a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary exposed failures within the school. Plans for Firfield's closure were announced by

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local authority for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. Newcastle has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. ...

and a consultation process with parents began. The council also considered merging the school with another nearby. Over £2.5 million was invested into Firfield in what became an "embarrassment" for David Blunkett. It was later revealed that only two out of 16 Fresh Start schools had improved. The Conservative Party and its

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education secretary

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

criticised the programme as failing. Blunkett admitted to dissatisfaction with some headteacher appointments in the programme and directed the

Department for Education and Employment The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the Education in England, education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's se ...

to take further control of the programme, introducing a two-year grant of £400,000 to its schools as a result. By December 2000 the fourth super head had resigned and another Fresh Start school was set for closure. David Blunkett and his schools minister

Estelle Morris Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, (born 17 June 1952), is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP ...

began disfavouring the programme; Morris began pushing local authorities to close failing schools instead of giving them a fresh start and Blunkett began restricting the programme's extent. Fresh starts have thereafter been reserved for situations where "closure is not an option" and improvements are likely to be made.

Other countries

United States

Fresh Start schools have been proposed in the United States by the Republican Party as part of its bid for school choice. Like British Fresh Start schools, these schools would replace failing schools and may fall under the control of a successful school nearby, benefiting from extra funds amounting to $2000 per pupil. Failing schools would have three years to improve before possibly being given a forced fresh start or may alternatively volunteer for a fresh start. The policy has already been implemented in parts of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and has been put forward for approval in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

as part of a bill that focuses on school improvement. The National Association of

Charter School A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

Authorizers have adopted the policy under the name Start Fresh, in response to the growing movement for school improvement that was enabled by the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

South Africa

The Fresh Start Schools Programme (FSSP) was launched by the National Education Collaboration Trust in 2015. Schools participating in the programme were given extra equipment and had their sites renovated. The programme was delivered through the Trust's District Intervention Programme, which aims to boost curricular provision and coordination between schools and their districts and local communities. 409 schools are part of the programme.

References