Almost 100 boys face a “summer of misery” and could be left without a secondary place after the future of a free school was thrown into doubt.
Fulham Boys School was due to open on September 8, but it said the Department for Education has at the last minute refused to sign its funding agreement.
The school said the Government wants it to defer opening for a year, but it is challenging that decision because it has already recruited staff and allocated places to children. Parents have already bought school uniforms and children have been on “transition days” to get to know the school.
Alex Wade, chairman of governors, said: “Why inflict a summer of misery and uncertainty on boys, their parents, the staff and all those who have worked tirelessly over the years to get this far? And why cast such uncertainty over the free schools programme’s ability to deliver successful schools?”
Fulham Boys School was due to open on a temporary site at Gibbs Green estate, in north Fulham, for two years. It was then widely expected to move onto a site vacated by Sulivan Primary School, when it merged with another local primary school.
But Hammersmith and Fulham’s new Labour administration announced plans to review the decision to close Sulivan, made by previous Conservative leaders. It could mean Sulivan Primary and nearby New King’s primary school both stay open instead of merging.
A Fulham Boys School spokeswoman said: “Uncertainty over [the school’s] permanent location appears to have caused officials to think again.”(
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “Due to difficulties in securing a permanent site, Fulham Boys’ School will not open as planned in September 2014.
“We will work with the local authority to help parents find other secondary schools for their children, and with the proposers behind Fulham Boys School to work towards a successful opening.”
