School is fishing for a very different future

POLAM Hall's sixth form has some important newcomers – and we’re not talking fellow students. For while the rest of the school have been busy welcoming the 200 extra pupils and 17 staff who’ve all joined since September, a handful of sixth formers have been acquiring pet fish.

It started several weeks ago when John Moreland, headmaster of the Darlington school, brought in a goldfish to illustrate how every pupil at Polam is a ‘big fish in a small pond’. It helped to highlight the school’s future selling point – that even after next year’s conversion to a free school, class sizes will remain small compared with other state schools.

While governors and the head have been finalising the admissions policy prior to reaching a funding agreement with the DfE, students have bought into the fish metaphor – quite literally. They have spent their own money on further varieties of fish, not to mention aquatic grass, fancy gravel, and a proper tank with pump. Sadly, they lost one, but the others are thriving, all named individually and watched over by a group of sixth formers dedicated to their shared care.

It’s an incidental story, but one that demonstrates the caring spirit of this unique school. And unique it certainly is – for having first been opened by Quakers in 1848, this co-educational boarding school is well-known for having a strong sense of community. Staff, pupils, and alumni talk of the Polam ‘family’. There is a tangible homely atmosphere in the air and a feeling that both day students and boarders genuinely look out for one another.

As a free school, this special feeling looks set to remain. Polam Hall will be non-selective, as well as non fee-paying, but it will stay small. It will take pupils age 4-18 and will be subject to the same DfE jurisdictions as any other state school. The admissions policy is now published – predicting up to just 692 pupils by 2020 – and the school will be subject to Ofsted inspections.

Polam has stated it will provide a viable option in a town already short of primary places. This September alone, the school roll almost doubled; the result of families eager to secure places ahead of the conversion, and evidence that parents appreciate the direct correlation between small class sizes and results.

As John Moreland and staff prepare to embrace this underlying, but significant, change, it is business as usual in school. So far, only four of Polam’s 418 current pupils have been moved to other fee-paying schools. Parents seem to be viewing the conversion as an opportunity not to be missed. The nearest state boarding schools are Keswick and Ripon, and Ripon has selective entry.

"We have weekly boarders alongside forces children and international students and as a free school we hope to add to this dynamic social and cultural mix," says Mr Moreland. It’s highly likely, given that the school is about to open its doors to children whose parents may never have afforded private school fees.

Not everyone is in favour. Teaching unions have spoken out against free schools generally and there are those who would deem it inappropriate to use public money to bail out failing fee-paying institutions.

John Moreland takes a more pragmatic view: "Polam Hall was not failing, neither financially nor academically, but numbers were declining. As a free school we can grow whilst protecting our non-selective, all-inclusive Quaker philosophy. It is clear from this year’s new intake that we can enrich the overall choice and diversity of state school provision in Darlington."

As an Oxford history graduate and a silver medallist at this year’s European Masters Athletics Championships, he equates success with hard work, rather than privilege. He may have taught at Rugby School for several years, but he was the first person in his own family to go to university and believes every pupil should be empowered to use their initiative, develop informed opinion, and work and think collectively via a strong house team culture. Above all, he wants every child to acquire resilience and to progress through his school, achieving academically but with a genuine sense of belonging.

Polam Hall has 20 acres of grounds, including some impressive playing fields and has the look and feel of a very traditional school. "Ultimately, we are about preparing young people for adult life, be it university or work. Boarding is a useful stepping stone towards university, especially for sixth formers from the Dales and County Durham who stay with us through the week and return home at weekends," the head says.

Flexi-boarding will also be available; a modern-day solution for parents of day pupils who work away from home and require occasional overnight childcare, and for older day students taking part in evening activities. The extra-curricular programme is strong – another legacy from the past.

As for the current sixth form, they know what’s expected in terms of leadership and commitment. Those goldfish aren’t their only responsibility. These past few weeks alone, they’ve directed and taken part in house plays, attended careers fairs to sell Polam to Year 11s at local schools, helped to host their sixth form open evening, and organised fund-raising for Children In Need – and that’s on top of their A-level studies.

John Moreland is right. These are big fish in the making. And with next year’s conversion to free school, there’ll be room for more in the pond.