I was unable to attend the recent event for proposers of Special Free Schools though our Vice-Chair of Trustees did. My sense of the SEN Green Paper, the application guidelines for Special Free Schools and much of the content of this event are of piece, raising interesting (and as yet unresolved) policy issues.
Something of this might be behind the anger that Eithne Leming of Suffolk Special Free Schools reports on her blog post about the event: "SEN and AP Free Schoolers Event: Carrot snatched away!" This is the first public presence I have found of another Special Free School proposal. Eithne Leming's blog is worth a read and the Suffolk Free Schools website worth a visit.
If it can be agreed that Free Schools in general offer a radical innovation in education policy then it seems to be the case that this is much less the case for Special Free Schools. There are some important discussions yet to be had: the distinction between "parent choice and parent preference", for instance.
Special Free Schools pose particular and specific challenges. That is all the more reason why it is important that the policy principles driving Free Schools generally are applied rigorously as well to Special Free Schools. In taking forward Paces' proposal for a Special Free School, we are very conscious of the need, as well as progressing our progress our application, to contribute actively to resolving some of these challenges.