Free schools are independent, state-funded schools with the same legal status as academies.

The new primary school is needed to support growing demand for high-quality primary school places at the new Overstone Leys development, as identified by the West Northamptonshire Council. The school will help increase parental choice and diversity of local primary provision in the area.

No. Free schools are run on a not-for-profit basis by a charitable trust. The school will be run by the Principal and their leadership team and they will be answerable to a Board of Governors.

The school will open at the Overstone Leys development in a flagship state-of-the-art sustainable new build located just off the A43 bypass.

Overstone Park Primary School is being established by Northampton Free School Trust, which runs the ‘Outstanding’ Wootton Park School. The Trust is in the process of forming its own multi-academy trust to run its family of schools. Their experienced pre-opening team will be led by their Chief Executive and Principal of Wootton Park School, Dan Rosser, until the appointment of a Principal Designate with the additional support of West Northamptonshire Council and the Department for Education to ensure a successful opening.

The new primary school is proposed to open in September 2025 with one Reception class (30 places) and grow to reach its capacity as a two-form entry school (420 pupils), in line with increased housing growth and demand.

The school will be run by a Local Advisory Board who will be accountable to the charitable trust which oversees the school. In addition, the school will also be accountable to the Department for Education through the terms of its Funding Agreement.

No. Free schools have to follow the new admissions code in the same way as all state-funded schools.

No. Funding for free schools will be equivalent to the funding of maintained schools and academies in the same local authority area. The opening of a free school does not mean that the overall funding available in an area goes down. However, the total funding an individual school receives will depend on the number of pupils attending.

Yes. All free schools are subject to inspection in the same way as other academy category schools. The school will also be inspected by Ofsted prior to opening and will be subject to termly visits from the Department for Education during its first year.

Not yet. We have advertised nationally for a high-calibre leader to take on this opportunity. We hope to be able to appoint our Head of School Designate to start in January 2025.

You can read about our admissions process and apply for a Reception place for September 2025 here.