Free school closure “left child curled up on the floor in the foetal position, sobbing”, says mother

A parent has offered a vivid personal insight into the human impact of a free school’s closure, stating that her son had been left “sobbing uncontrollably” after he had to move to a new comprehensive after his first day at secondary school.

The mother spoke about how her 11-year-old son attended the International Academy of Greenwich, in south-east London, for a single day in September before the family managed to move him to another academy.

Their decision had come after Greenwich council’s planning board, in July, had blocked plans for the school to open on a permanent site in Blackheath which is protected Metropolitan Open Land.

The planning failure had left the free school’s future in doubt, with its eventual closure then announced 10 days ago.

The parent said she had chosen the school for her son not knowing just how precarious its future had been. She said she felt let down by the council and the trust running it for not making this clearer, while the Department for Education should “of course” not be opening free schools before planning permission had been granted.