Last September, Boris Johnson opened the West London Free School with rather a good joke.
“The Secretary of State for Education has added a new word to the English language,” he said. “I give, they gave, he gove – he gove us this school.”
Okay, maybe you had to be there. I was so giddy with pleasure that the school was finally opening, I was ready to laugh at anything. I’d been leading the efforts of a group of parents and teachers for two years and scarcely a day had passed without the opponents of free schools unleashing a vicious personal attack. I kept my spirits up by visualizing the first 120 pupils passing through the school gates and when it eventually came to pass it was a moment to savour. (To read more, click here.)
