Disappointing, but hopeful

As far as the application is concerned, we can honestly say that the application is now as good as it gets from the "Educational Plan & Vision" to our "Organisational capacity and capability" passing by our choice of "Potential Premises". There are always room for improvement obviously, and we are looking forward to get detailed feedback from the Department for Education in the next application round.

However, that was not enough to go through in 2011 because, despite a lot of parental support (hundreds), we did not have enough evidence of support from parents of the relevant age.

Gaining sufficient parent support is now the only aspect that is really holding us back, and preventing us from putting forward a compelling application to make this dream school come true. Consequently and regardless of the age of your children, thanks to register your interest on the website and we will make sure to keep you informed of the developments.
 

Indeed, Boubacar, who has been leading the project, already spent all he had and more on campaigns that were too small and not targetted enough. Thus, he cannot afford to spend more money in the targetting marketing campaigns that would be required to get that support quickly, or to keep working full time as a volunteer on the project for another year.

Given that the application is already complete and of the highest quality, he still plans to use it to open the school. The real question is when? The answer is as soon as there is sufficient parental support (most likely through word of mouth). In the meantime, he will find a way to earn a living and pay back the debts he has accumulated during the year he spent working on the project.

He really has no regret as the way he sees it, the feedback from the DfE confirmed that this project is on the right track and can make a difference, a huge difference in children's life.

It is now up to the parents of Reading to make it happen.