Barton Court Grammar School, Canterbury; Brockhill Park Performing Arts College, Hythe; Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre, Tenterden; Mascalls School, Paddock Wood, and Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (in a chain with Wilmington Grammar School for Boys). Homewood is the first stand alone Kent School that only has an OFSTED satisfactory assessment to apply. All others are outstanding, good or in a Federation or Chain with stronger schools. In Medway, Greenacre and Walderslade Girls Schools have put in applications. There are no fresh applications or approvals for primary schools.

Government keeps up pressure on schools to become Academies; the relevant pages of the Department of Education website focus strongly on propaganda to become academies.

There are now at least three groups considering setting up  Free Schools in Kent for widely differing reasons. The Kings Academy, in Kings Hill (primary) and the Wye Free School (secondary) at Wye near Ashford, are already featured in these pages, although the proposers of the Wye Free SChool have decided to postpone their application. I now also have news of the proposed Tiger Primary School in Maidstone on the site of the New Line Learning Academy. This is being pioneered by the Future Schools Trust, that runs both New Line Learning Academy and the Cornwallis Academy also in Maidstone. Key distinctive features include (in order): a focus on Mandarin alongside English; training to improve numeracy; encouraging all children to play a musical instrument; being open from 7.30 to 6 p.m. of particular benefit to working parents; and a healthy breakfast, lunch and tea on offer to all students.