DELIGHT AT PROGRESS OF CITY'S FIRST FREE SCHOOL

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Delight at progress of city's first free school

Teachers, parents and children at Leicester's first free school say they are delighted with the progress in transforming its building.

Krishna Avanti primary, in Evington, opened in September in a grade II-listed building, formerly occupied by Leicester Grammar Junior School.

Youngsters have been working in temporary buildings put up on the site while thousands of pounds of refurbishment and extension work got under way.

The work is due to finish in August, in time for the autumn term, when pupils numbers at the school will increase from 30 to at least 75.

Head teacher Christopher Spall said: "We're thrilled with the way work's progressing.

"It's going to look amazing with a square piazza being created and cloisters around it – it's got a real spiritual feel to it."

Free schools are set up by charities, parents or teachers outside local authority control, but paid for by the state.

The building work at Krishna Avanti includes the creation of a classroom block for years one and two, refurbishment of the existing building inside and outside, with new windows, carpets and redecoration.

The square piazza is being built towards the back of the school and a garden area for the children to grow their own vegetables will sit to one side of it, alongside a new-look outdoor area with play equipment.

There are still 15 places left for parents who wish to send their children to the school.

Sabrina Braithwaite, from Narborough Road, in Leicester, is sending her son, Jahziah, five, from September.

She said: "I've looked around the school before but I wanted to bring my son so that he could get used to it.

"I'm very impressed with the school's calm ethos and its vegetarianism. I like the fact that children do yoga and I think he'll be happy here.Jahziah said: "I really like the school playing field."

Pargan Dhadda, from Queen's Road, has a son, Angath, five, at the school, and another son, Aaryan, four, who will start in the new academic year.

He said: "I was a little bit worried at first because it was a new school but I've been really pleased with how it's been run.

"The grounds are very impressive and far better than any other school we looked around and because it's a small school the children get lots of individual attention."

The primary, which will eventually have places for 420 children, is sponsored by education charity the I-Foundation.

It has a Hindu ethos but children of all faiths attend and follow the national curriculum.

School governor Pradip Gajjar said: "We're very happy with how the school and the work is progressing."

KRISHNA-AVANTI PRIMARY SCHOOL OPEN DAY

I'm attending an Open Day at Krishna-Avanti Primary School, Spencefield Lane, Evington this morning. The school is coming toward the end of its first teaching year. They're celebrating that milestone today, along with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend (for which reason, the event begins and ends with the singing of the National Anthem and Headmaster Christopher Spall is sporting a vivid Union Flag bow-tie).

There are demonstrations of devotional dancing, of yoga and of Maypole Dancing, and recitation in unison of verses from the Bhagavad Gita (in the original Sanskrit, then the English translation). One way or another, these activities allow all the school's pupils and teaching staff to do something in front of the gathering.

Mr Spall calls Cllr Manjula Sood to the microphone to speak. As well as currently being Assistant Mayor and Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths, Manjula was the first Asian woman to be Lord Mayor of an English city and - of more interest and relevance today - the first Asian primary school teacher in Leicester.

Other members of Leicester Council of Faiths are in attendance: Cllr Rashmikant Joshi, Suleman Nagdi and Tony Nelson. Cllr Vi Dempster, Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Lead for Children, Young People and Schools is also here today.

I have a brief chat with Fiona Dryden, who is here covering the event for the Leicester Mercury. I point out to her that there a number of members of Leicester Council of Faiths at this event and that we've helped provide occasional visiting speakers to meet pupils and staff. I give Fiona my card: we'll have to wait and see if any of this finds its way into the paper. 

By the time Pradip Gajjar, the school's Director, is offering his thanks and closing remarks, we have the first serious rain for several days. Time to move inside the marquees for a nice vegetarian lunch.

This is a very friendly, happy occasion and shows off the Krishna Avanti School in a very positive light. I'm glad that we're able to show our support for the school today and we wish staff and pupils the very best as the school progresses.

LEICESTER'S FIRST FREE SCHOOL STARTS TO RECRUIT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester's first free school starts to recruit

Thirty parents have applied for places for their children at Leicester's first free school.

Krishna Avanti Primary, in Spencefield Lane, Evington, will be the country's second Hindu school when it opens.

Sponsor the I-foundation said it was pleased with the number of applications so far and there were still have places for another 30 children.

An open day on Sunday will give parents of four and five-year-olds a chance to look around the site.

Half of the places will be reserved for Hindus. The rest can be of any other faith or none.

Chris Spall, who will take up the post of head teacher following a three-year stint in Kuwait, said the school would follow the national curriculum but adopt a Hindu ethos.

Meals will be vegetarian and pupils will grow some of the vegetables in the school's garden.

Meditation and yoga will be on the timetable and children will learn about all faiths.

"We want the school to be a calm, peaceful and purposeful environment and for the children to learn about the world around them, whether that's being a Hindu, a Catholic or any other faith," said Mr Spall, 58, who did his teacher training at Loughborough University.

"I still intend to hold a nativity at Christmas but we'll celebrate Hindu festivals, too, along with other cultures," he said.

Youngsters will start the school year in one part of the building and temporary classrooms while work is completed on the former Leicester Grammar Junior School site.

Every child will be equipped with an iPad 2. Mr Spall said: "Children can really embrace the iPad because of its touch screen and it means there's instant access to information which can enhance outside learning, too.

"If we're planting potatoes in the garden and we want to find out how long they take to grow, children can find out at the touch of a screen."

Mr Spall said he intended to visit every child and their parents before they start at Krishna Avanti in September.

"I'm really excited about the future," he said.

"Once parents see what we're planning and how it will look, it's really going to take off.

"I've worked with many religious backgrounds and cultures and it's that diversity which attracted me to this post.

"We want to set up links with other schools in the city so that children get to experience as much as they can."

The free school was one of only eight approved by the Government last year.

It will be funded directly by the Government and will have freedom over its budget.

Project director Pradip Gajjar said: "We're very pleased with numbers so far and will look to grow in the future as intended.

"We're going to have a new school that's fully renovated and we're very excited about opening in September.

"We've had a lot of inquiries and some parents may think we're no longer taking applications. That's why another open day is planned on Sunday."

The open day runs from 11am until 2pm at the school.

STATE-FUNDED HINDU SCHOOL IN EVINGTON HAS OPEN DAY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

State-funded Hindu school in Evington has open day

A new school, set to open in September, is already proving popular.The Krishna-Avanti Primary School in Evington will be only the second state-funded Hindu school in the UK when it opens later this year.

It is one of the coalition Government's new "free" schools – set up by charities, parents or teachers outside local authority control but paid for by the state.

The I-Foundation, an education charity, is behind the new primary school and yesterday an open day was held to allow parents of prospective pupils to look at the school.

A school spokesman said the high attendance yesterday had suggested the school would be popular.

He said: "We had 60 to 70 people coming through in the first 45 minutes alone and about 30 to 40 of them told me they had applied to the school."

Prospective parents were given a tour of the school and also heard from Naina Parmar, the headteacher of the state-funded Krishna-Avanti school in Harrow. Both schools are advised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Vishal Brahmbhatt, 30, from Belgrave, has applied for his three-year-old son Pritam to go to the school.

He said: "It's very exciting because it's the first Hindu school where children can stay in touch with their culture."

Jessica Desai, 29, from Humberstone, who visited with 15-month-old daughter, Danisha, said: "I've heard good things about the school in Harrow and I know it's very popular."

The I-Foundation has said its first intake will be 60 reception-age pupils but that it aimed to provide 420 places for children aged four to 11 by 2018.

Half of the new intake will be Hindu and the other half children who live nearest the Spencefield Lane site.

Children will follow the national curriculum but their day will include daily Hindu prayers among other things.

SURVEY PAINTS SPIRIT OF CITY IN ITS TRUE COLOURS

This is Samina Ali's First Person column, published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Survey paints spirit of city in its true colours

Is Leicester's reputation for managing community cohesion justified, asks Samina Ali?

The largest and most detailed study of Muslims in Leicester is published on Thursday. The research – by the Policy Research Centre, Markfield, and published by the Open Society Institute as part of its project looking at 11 cities in the EU – reveals interesting findings, largely positive, about the city.

This study reviewed Leicester's approach to integration and inclusion of Muslims in areas such as employment, health, education, policing and levels of civic and political engagement. It looked at how Muslims felt in Leicester in discussions on identity and belonging. It focused on three wards, Evington, Spinney Hills and Stoneygate, chosen for their high levels of ethnic minority population.

So what do Leicester's Muslims think? Seventy-two per cent of Muslims born abroad said they felt British, whereas 94% of second-generation Leicester Muslims consider themselves British. The responses show that they are more patriotic compared to Muslims in other EU cities and showed a stronger sense of belonging to the city. Also contrary to popular perception values held by Muslims were not much different to non-Muslims in Leicester.

But there are also challenges, and little room for complacency. As one of the researchers, I heard some of the difficulties of some Muslims in Leicester. In one focus group discussion, discrimination was talked about in relation to employment. One person said he applied for jobs and did not get to the interview stage and when he applied for a job with a non-Muslim name his application was successful.

While there were a lot of complaints about the national media, Muslims in Leicester painted a positive picture of their local media, especially the Mercury! The success of interfaith dialogue is also flagged up, particularly the role played by the Anglican Church in helping to manage a positive inter-faith ethos. But poor educational attainment and economic deprivation in parts of the city are seen as major challenges that affect people of all backgrounds.

The study recognises that Leicester offers a number of very positive practices for the inclusion of ethnic minorities, but it also makes a number of recommendations which address the need for further engagement by the council, media, police, and other key policy sectors, as well as the Muslim community itself.

Talking to and meeting Leicester Muslims, key stakeholders and the wider community gave me a sense of pride living in Leicester. Off came my rose-tinted glasses and I saw the real spirit of Leicester in its true colours.

Samina Ali is a Research Fellow at the Policy Research Centre, Markfield