Discovery New School

Discovery New School was a co-educational Montessori free school for pupils aged 4 to 10 located in Crawley, West Sussex. The school opened in September 2011 as one of the first free schools in the country and also the first Montessori free school. The school was funded directly by central government and had a planned intake of 16 pupils per year. Although the school adopted Montessori methods, the Montessori Schools Association later said that they were refused permission to oversee the introduction of its teaching methods and had "warned the DfE of the school's likely failure" in 2010 before the school opened. Philip Bujak, chief executive of the MSA, said: "We were ignored completely." Martin Bradley, chairman of the MSA, said: "The Montessori Schools Association has had limited contact with the school from the start of the scheme. We suggested that they seek accreditation, but they did not."
While not formally affiliated with any religious organisation, Discovery New School followed an Anglican ethos and was one of four "faith schools" in the first batch of free schools approved by the education secretary, Michael Gove, along with a Hindu school in Leicester, a Christian primary school in Camden, North London, and a Jewish primary school in Mill Hill, North London.

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