ORGANISERS of a bid to open a new free school have lost out in the latest cash allocations.

The team behind the proposed 500-student Felixstowe Community School was “very positive” after being invited to meet with officers at the Department for Education to explain the project.

However, they have now been told the application was not successful.

Anna Tink, director of Felixstowe Community School, said: “This is very disappointing news for all the children who were hoping to attend the school in 2013 but we thank everyone for their support and commitment over the past year and hope that this support will continue as we look at options for re-applying for 2014.

“At the moment we are reviewing the Department for Education feedback and will be exploring all avenues open to us as we endeavour to continue to pursue our ultimate goal of offering a choice of education for the Felixstowe community.” She said everyone had remained positive and had been told a new application could definitely be made in 2014. The aim was to use Felixstowe Academy’s Garrison Campus when it moves to its new soon-to-be-built �20million academy.

It had been hoped to open the free school this September but the irony is that even if the Government had given the go-ahead, the directors could not have taken over the former Deben High site yet because the academy’s building project is a year behind schedule.

The free school team – Yvonne Chatt, Brian Clark, Emma Currie, David Rowe, and Andrew and Anna Tink – submitted a business plan to the Government providing detailed plans.

Free schools are Government funded but run by an education provider and not a council.

They have greater freedom than local authority schools in deciding the length of the school day and term, the curriculum, and how they reward their teachers and spend their money.