WLFS public consultation findings

The consultation period for the proposed West London Free School started on Monday 25th October and concluded on Friday 26th November.

Those we consulted included local primary schools, local secondary schools, local residents, local community groups, youth and children’s groups, community venues, local politicians and Local Authority post-holders, plus the database of parents and carers who had expressed interest in our proposal prior to the formal Business Case application.

A total of 8,000 consultation booklets containing a Freepost questionnaire were distributed. The booklet was produced in English with a translation panel offering the information in the five additional most widely spoken languages in the borough. The booklet was also translated into Somali and a small quantity printed for some face-to-face stakeholder engagement that a member of the Steering Committee did with a primary school with a large Somali cohort.

67 completed questionnaires were returned by post. The questionnaire was also identified as being available online to complete and 261 people gave their views that way.

Of the total of 328 completed questionnaires, a total of 280 respondents said they supported the proposal, with 33 saying they did not and 15 answering ‘Don’t Know’. A summary of responses to the questions appears below.

Q1 Do you support the proposal to open a new secondary school in Hammersmith and Fulham to increase parental choice?

Q2 Do you support the core principles of the WLFS: High expectations, academic rigour and strong discipline?

Q3 Do you support the School's classical curriculum which aims to provide all children with a core body of knowledge and the ability to think for themselves?

Q4 Do you support our proposal to specialise in Music?