TWO free schools have been given the go-ahead in Worcestershire after the government announced its latest round of approved applications.

Holy Trinity International School in Kidderminster will become free school from September 2014, while Aspire Academy has also been granted permission to open a school in the county under the status.

HTIS headteacher, Pamela Leek-Wright, said it was “fantastic” news for the school and for the local community.

She said: “We would like to thank our parents, the school staff and the wider community for their strong support and their huge vote of confidence in our application, which has been totally overwhelming.

“The school's extended curriculum activities, virtual interaction, Homestay and exchange programmes will continue to add further breadth to an essentially family school, which believes in personal progression being as important as academic achievement.

“Holy Trinity International School has always been about student realisation of personal potential; active participants rather than passive recipients in their education, and by becoming a Kidderminster free school, we plan to further extend our longstanding tradition of inclusive education, with many more local families able to benefit from the school's excellent educational offer.”

Holy Trinity is one of several schools under the trusteeship of International Education Systems, which has schools in Europe, America and South Africa.

Free schools are state-funded schools independent of local authority control.

They have the freedom to decide the length of the school day and term, the curriculum, and how they reward their teachers and spend their money.