AROUND 30 people attended a public meeting to hear about a bid to open a new free school in the Wye Valley at a public meeting in Monmouth on Monday night.

A steering group, led by chairwoman Sarah Mclellan and made up parents and advisors, told the meeting at The Priory that the group formed to submit an application to the Department for Education to open the Wye Valley Free School for 284 children aged between four and 16 who live in the border counties of Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

The all-through school is based on the Montessori and human scale education principles, and aims to use small learning groups and a teacher/child ratio which it is believed allows children to be known well, understood and responded to, in order to develop and engage children to attain GCSEs and the new English Baccalaureate, whilst meeting the requirements of the National Curriculum.

The school would start with 24 children in the primary and first year and 40 in the secondary and increase pupil numbers in phases.

It would be state-funded, free from local authority control and have a board of governors. The location has yet to be decided but is likely to be on the border of the three counties and close to the A40.

Mrs McLellan explained that an initial bid last year was unsuccessful and that, despite a two-year delay, the group has studied the feedback and is confident it can meet the criteria.

They now need to raise £15,000 towards the application costs, which they hope to submit by the end of December, and for more people to get involved in fund-raising, publicity, marketing and research.

She said: “Our vision is a school which has each child’s needs, wellbeing, talents and passions at its heart.”

“It is going to be a lot of hard work but there is a good chance we can succeed,” she added.

If approved, the group hope to open the school in September 2015.