Boot-camp school looks for local base

THE Rifle Street drill hall — possible free school site

A military-style school with zero-tolerance to bad behaviour could be coming to Oldham.

Leading military personnel, including the former chief of defence staff, are considering Oldham as a possible site for a revolutionary facility, the Phoenix School.

One of many sites being discussed is the disused Territorial Army barracks at Drill Hall on the St Mary’s Estate, ravaged by fire in April.

Founders say they will rip up the national curriculum and secondary pupils will be taught literacy, numeracy, competitive spirit and high morals. A chain of similar schools is planned.

Run by ex-servicemen, they will ensure that children — who would apply for the school in the normal way — don’t leave with an “inflated sense of self-worth.”

The co-writer of the report, Tom Burkard — a former corporal instructor and leading advocate of synthetic phonics — said: “One of the members of the steering group lives in Hyde and he considers Oldham local.

“We are considering Oldham but to say it is definitively there would be considerably misleading. All we can say is this kind of school is greatly needed in Greater Manchester. We would be delighted to talk to local people in Oldham and if we consider we do have the local support then we would look into it further.”

The Phoenix school, which will group pupils in terms of ability, is still at the pre-proposal stage and would not open until September, 2012, at the earliest.

The proposal is the centrepiece of a new report called Something Can Be Done by the influential Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) think-tank. The school would be one of the new “free schools” – semi-independent schools set up by teachers, parents and community groups — introduced by the coalition government.

Phoenix is the idea of British Army captain A K Burki, of the counter-insurgency unit at Warminster, who said in a report: “The performance of our armed forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere stands out in stark contrast to the mobs that have recently been roaming our streets.

“As important as role models are, they are only part of the picture.

“Every liberal idea taught in teacher-training courses will be discarded in favour of proven methods.”