Latin for all: the day Toby Young's free school dream came true

dresses, tradition and hope in the abundance of the best known of a new generation of schools

The children spent their first day adventure in the formation of character in the open, firing catapults and build rafts. Once they get in school work next week, the focus will be firmly in the traditional academic subjects - Latin is mandatory 14 and 16 years of history. If this sounds like a dream school for a right-wing columnist, is because it is.

West London School

free, the most prominent of the new generation of schools, was officially opened on Friday. The driving force behind the project, Toby Young, has shared the stage with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and the director, Thomas Packer.

The impression was of a private school or grammar - the blue blazer and black robes with the teachers names Latin motto "Sapere aude" (dare to learn) and conventional four school houses: the Athenians, the Corinthians, the Spartans and the Olympians. The two main buildings, known as a block and B in the previous life of the institution as a special school, renamed Alpha and Beta.

"Most said they would be similar to a primary school, which is what attracts us:

Tsehaye

Beyene, Maida Vale, whose son Emmanuel is one of the first class of 120 high , he said. of them from high school to get good grades and go to college, we want our children to do the same is my first child, and I want him to succeed -... I can not afford to send her to private school "

school in Hammersmith, west London, where he educates a high proportion of children in private or in neighboring districts. According to the Council, 39% of students in public schools come from outside Hammersmith - an indication of how some local families send their children

Rachel

Neith, whose son Simeon began, said: "We have many choices in this town that I know what is new, but I'm willing to give it a try .."

The school opened its doors to the press yesterday, but the kids started Wednesday with a day of outdoor activities. Thursday, reported the spiritual Wade in the Water, which form a musical interlude between the speech yesterday. After the cameras had packed, he planned to spend the rest of the day in sports.

• The school was facing accusations of elitism, in part to make Latin compulsory to 14. Young rejected that accusation, saying the children sitting in the courtroom as evidence that the school had a different use.

Unlike other independent schools, who have struggled to fill seats, was heavily oversubscribed with 500 applications for 120 places. Admission is determined in part by the proximity and a draw for the remaining places. Twelve sites were assigned to musical ability.

Admission

reference code, Young said: "We wanted to ensure that the persistence of middle-class parents, and I confess to be yourself, have not been able to monopolize fully places in the school through the purchase of houses in the catchment area, which happens so often. And I think if you look around today's students, we have achieved our goal of recruiting a cohort of students that truly reflects the social and ethnic diversity of the region. "

Young estimates that "about one fifth" of students eligible for free meals. It is near the national average of 17%, but below average for the city, which is 36%. Young described the school as "college for all".

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