Breakfast, lunch and after-school activity clubs will be on offer
points out Barnett. “It’s also a great way to get to their parents through them.” In 2006, the trust signed up for
a national pilot project run by the Youth Sports Trust, aimed at seeing if increasing physical activity in primary schools would have the same positive impact on standards that had already been seen at secondary Sports Colleges. Over a four-year period, Barnett and her team worked closely with teachers at Foxdell Primary School in Luton to embed physical activity into all aspects of the curriculum and school life, with impressive results. “Oh, gosh, the impact it had was
unbelievable,” she says. “We did lots of work on Literacy in Action and Numeracy in Action, which helped raise their SAT scores – over four years, the proportion of children achieving level 4 in English went from 77 to 91 per cent; maths went from 74 to 90 per cent; and science from 80 to 93 per cent. It improved attendance, increased confidence and self-esteem… I’m not saying it was all PE, but I can show you quotes from the head teacher that testify to our contribution.” And she can. “The attendance and
behaviour statistics are testimony to the February 2014 © Cybertrek 2014 Helen Barnett: A former PE teacher
fact that the children enjoyed coming to school, felt part of a team, believed in themselves, were confident, could speak up for themselves and were ready to have a go at anything,” said head Lynne McMulkin in the free school application.
“The pilot transformed pupils from passive to active learners in every sense.”
LEAP OF FAITH Why, though, did Active Luton decide to set up a school dedicated to this
philosophy, rather than simply continuing to partner with existing schools in Luton? The way Barnett tells it, it was almost fate: the town was desperately short of primary school places and, in the area where demand was greatest, Active Luton had a swimming pool that was about to close down. “Everything came together at the same time,” she says. “The new government came in and introduced the concept of free schools; there was a shortage of school places; we had a concept we believed passionately in; and we had a potential site.” Under government guidelines, all
free schools must be operated by an academy trust, so Active Luton’s first move was to set up the Active Education Academy Trust. After its application, the trust received the green light in July 2012, leaving Barnett and her team just over a year to get ready for the first intake of pupils. Often described as state-maintained
independent schools, free schools receive their funding direct from the Department of Education rather than the local authority. It’s no small investment: the budget for the new school building is £7.5m, while set-up
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