How To Set Up A Free School

by Toby Young

From the author of How To Lose Friends And Alienate People comes another witty and concise memoir-cum-manual.

In 2011, following the extremely arduous task of founding a free school in the face of political controversy, fierce criticism and, he admits, inexperience, Toby Young’s West London Free School opened in Hammersmith.

Offering a classical liberal education, it was the first of its kind in England to sign the Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State for Education. The school has since received a glowing report from Ofsted in 2015 and has been placed in the top five per cent of mixed comprehensives in England, following the publication of its first GCSE results in 2016.

In the few years that have passed since the West London Free School opened its doors, there has been a proliferation of free schools across the country that has seen the number jump from just 24 to well over three-hundred, with many more preparing to open soon.

But the path to this success was not easy. Now Toby Young is here to offer some reflections and guidance for those who are looking to join the free school crusade.

Praise for Toby Young

‘Mr Young may never be one of the Great and the Good – but he is great and he is good, which is a far, far better thing.’ – The Spectator

Toby Young is a journalist and author. He has written columns for the Evening Standard and The Independent on Sunday, appeared frequently in The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail, and is currently an associate-editor of The Spectator. Young’s bestselling memoir of his time spent writing for Vanity Fair in New York, How To Lose Friends And Alienate People, was adapted into a West End play as well as a film starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox and Jeff Bridges. Since January 2017, Young has also become the Director of the New Schools Network, a charity that helps the foundation of free schools, having previously co-founded several in London himself - including the West London Free School.

107 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 1963) is a British journalist and the author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, the tale of his failed five-year attempt to make it in the U.S. as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, as well as The Sound of No Hands Clapping, a follow-up about his failure to make it as a Hollywood screenwriter. His obnoxious wit has earned him almost as many enemies as admirers and the title of "England's heterosexual Truman Capote". As the son of a baron, he is entitled to use the title the Honourable, but declines to style himself as such.

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toby Young is of course a bit of a silly man. Don't take my word for it - read "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". He rightly points out in this though, that he's never had quite so much hate as when he tried to do some community organising and do something worthwhile in his local area, and that probably tells us a lot about the state of people's approach to politics: people who just moan about how rubbish everything is seem to think they can feel superior to people who actually get involved and do what they (rightly or wrongly) think is important.

I mainly read this because I used to work for Ealing Council and know some of the people mentioned, and because it just sounded like an interesting and illuminating story. I'm not going to pretend to have a lot of knowledge about the pros and cons of Free Schools, but obviously there will be a lot of people who disagree with their very existence. Fair enough - they won't be reading this book then, but if you are planning to start one, then it's hard to think of a better or more easily digestible introduction to the subject. I think my only objection is that TY underestimates the difficulty of forming a group of interested and skilled helpers. Yes of course he tells us he found it easy to attract surveyors, former heads, etc., but he lives in a relatively well off bit of West London and has lots of contacts plus a very broad channel to an audience via the media. I doubt a care worker from one of the less fashionable boroughs would find it as easy.
Well, that's a gripe but in a way, life's like that and I would hardly expect him to say "give up, you'll never manage it because you're not me" because that would hardly be an encouraging message, so maybe he's right to downplay that aspect.

5 slightly begrudging stars anyway, just for the sheer usefulness for its very specific purpose!