Stour Valley Community School is a coeducational free school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

in the English

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. It opened in September 2011 as one of the first 24 free schools in England.The free schools set to open in 2011
''BBC News'', 1 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.Clare: “Monumental day for whole community” – Suffolk’s first-ever free school starts new term
''East Anglian Daily Press'', 5 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.Stour Valley Community School welcomes first pupils
''Haverhill Echo'', 8 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. It opened with around 170 pupils and a total staff of 29, including non-teaching support staff. The headteacher is Rachel Kelly.Stour Valley Community School profile
''Department for Education''. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The school opened on the site of the former Clare

Middle School Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

which had around 300 pupils in four year groups.Parr.C (2010
Row as five secondary free schools approved
''SecEd'', 9 September 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2011. A building programme estimated to cost around £4.8 million and take around a year to complete and carried out by Balfour Beatty.Balfour Beatty appointed preferred bidder for £4.8 million schools contract
Balfour Beatty construction services, 6 April 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.Schofield.J (2011
Firm wins free school contract
''Evening Star'', 6 April 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The middle school closed in August 2011 as part of

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

's reorganisation of schools into a two-tier system. At the beginning of the autumn term (starting in September) of 2016, the school had 573 pupils.

History

Local families formed a group called Campaign for Local And Rural Education (C.L.A.R.E) asking for the council to open a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

at the site, but the council refused.Clare 'in shock' at schools decision
''Suffolk Free Press'', 4 March 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The group then set up the Stour Valley Educational Trust, and applied directly to the national government to open a school, concerned that children would have to travel up to to one of two existing secondary schools with around 1,200 pupils. The application was accepted, and the trust, operating as Stour Valley Educational Trust Ltd., opened the school on the old middle school site in September 2011.

Criticisms

The trust, which opened the school with around 170 pupils, had initially expected over 200 pupils to attend the school in its first year and planned for more than 500 pupils by 2015.Richardson.H (2011
First green light for community's free school plan
''BBC news'', 14 January 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The school has been criticised as unnecessary, for wasting taxpayers' money and for its possible impact on surrounding high schools.Clare free school welcomes first pupils
''BBC news'', 8 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. In 2011 the school spent £28,000 on marketing.Benson.S (2011
'Freedom of information request'
''What do they know.com'', 15 December 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The trust has stated that teachers will "have to teach two subjects and bring something else (to the school) as well".Vasagar.J (2011
More maths, longer days … Michael Gove's school vision takes shape
''The Guardian'', 3 January 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. The school catchment area is predominantly made up of households in the "wealthy achiever" category,Vasagar.J (2011
What type of children go to free schools?
''The Guardian'', 31 August 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011. the most well off category, despite the free school programme being aimed at increasing social mobility.First 16 'free schools' details set out
''BBC news'', 10 September 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2011.Free schools 'not wanted' say teachers
''BBC News'', 3 January 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

References

External links

Stour Valley Community School homepage
{{authority control Secondary schools in Suffolk Free schools in Suffolk Educational institutions established in 2011 2011 establishments in England Clare, Suffolk