Three weeks after admitting defeat, two mums have decided to resurrect their dream of setting up a free school for children with autism.

Donna Smith-Emes, 43, of Park Road, Sittingbourne, and her friend Sarah Aldridge, 42, of Gaze Hill Avenue, were told last month their application to the Department for Education had been unsuccessful for a third time.

The main reason it was refused was due to them ‘not being comfortable’ with joining a multi-academy trust, as suggested by the DfE, due to fears their vision and identity for the school would be compromised.

Mrs Smith-Emes, whose son Daniel, 14, is autistic, and Mrs Aldridge, whose nine-year-old daughter Amber has high-functioning autism, came up with the idea to create a school in Swale three years ago.

There is only one place which serves children from the borough – Laleham Gap School, which is based over two sites in Broadstairs and Margate.

To help them realise their dream they set up the parent-led group Friends of Aspire.

They applied to set up the school in May last year, but were told two months later their application had been unsuccessful.

Despite the initial knock-back, they resubmitted their proposal in October and met department representatives on January 28 to discuss their plans further but it was rejected again due to Kent County Council not commissioning enough places to make the school as financially viable as the department would like.

After the recent disappointment the pair issued a joint statement saying they would not be reapplying in future rounds.

However, both women have since backtracked and begun a petition calling on Nicky
Morgan, Education Secretary, to reconsider the department’s decision.

So far more than 500 people have signed it.

Mrs Aldridge said: “We approached a junior school in Swale and a university in Kent for support, both were academies but we were not going to join either of them, that was the agreement they were happy with.

“The junior school in Swale would have shared its good practices. It also offered their senior leadership support. The university was offering post 16 support.

“This was all submitted in the application but the DfE said it wanted us to join a multi-academy trust.

“We didn’t want that as we wanted to ensure our vision for the school and its identity were not compromised and we wanted to remain in control of where the money is spent.”

To sign the petition visit www.aspirefreeschool.co.uk