Tate backs free school bid

The model Katie Price and the art curator Sir Nicholas Serota might not appear to have much in common. But they have been brought together by the free schools movement, the magnificence cause of achieving educational excellence through wider parental choice.

The Times Educational Supplement reports that Tate has lent its support to the proposed Plymouth School of Creative Arts, claiming it could be of "potentially national significance" it allowed to open in September 2013.

In a letter to the Education Secretary Michael Gove, the Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota, writes:

"The Tate feels strongly that there is not just room within the education landscape for such a school, but a need and an appetite for a school that gives opportunity for children and young people who have a wider range of capabilities than may be demonstrated through their current educational experience.

"The creative industries continue to be one of the few growing industries in this country and such a school will help nurture skills and aptitudes that may be declining elsewhere, enabling a new young workforce to be able to thrive in the area."

Price, or Jordan as she is better know, is helping a group of parents start a special needs free school in Kent.

As the TES notes football clubs such as Everton and Bradford City have free schools due to open this September, with proposals for another from Tottenham Hotspur while Leicester Tigers rugby club is backing a sports college for students aged 16-18.

While the momentum grows where are the Labour Party? Standing on the sidelines dithering and sneering, clutching for any difficulty or setback.