Saracens Kick Off New School Project

Saracens play Northampton Saints at Aviva Premiership match in September (Getty)

Saracens Rugby Club is to take its match-winning ethos into education after it was given approval by the Department of Education to open a new Free School.

The rugby Premiership and European Cup winners have said they want to start the school to help provide young people in a deprived area of Barnet, north London, with a mix of academic and sporting excellence.

The school plans to open next September, with an initial intake of 180 pupils. The project was launched in response to a shortage of places in Barnet.

The Department for Education said on approving the application that the combination of ‘high academic standards and the distinctive Saracens ethos will encourage pupils to excel in education, in sport and in life’.

The new secondary school, to be called Saracens High School, is the result of a partnership between the rugby club and Ashmole Academy, a secondary school rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Nigel Wray, chairman of Saracens rugby club, hailed the decision, saying it provided a “marvellous opportunity”.

“At the Saracens High School we will combine our sporting beliefs to create a unique school environment,” he promised, “where every individual student matters, academic achievement is important and a real emphasis is placed on teamwork and the creation of great memories.”

To deliver the project, Saracens has gained support from not only its formal academic partner, the Ashmole Academy, but also the Saracens Sport Foundation, Middlesex University and the Orion and Goldbeaters Primary School Gold Star Federation.

Ashmole Academy’s Head Teacher, Derrick Brown, said: “The young people of Colindale are the winners in this decision.”

The Saracens High School Free School Trust said it will now work with the Department of Education and the Education Funding Agency to progress the pre-opening plans.

The announcement came as the government unveiled the latest wave of free schools approved to open in England. The Department for Education said 77 new state-funded schools have been given the go-ahead, which will create more than 45,000 additional pupil places.

It is the biggest wave of free school approvals this parliament, contributing to the government’s target of opening 500 new free schools by 2020.