Thomas Packer is head of West London Free School, the first free school to be set up by a group of parents and teachers under the government’s controversial scheme. It opened last September and is operating out of a temporary site until it moves to a permanent facility in 2013.

Free reign?

What have been the surprises and disappointments of the school’s first six months?

I’ve been surprised by the rapidity at which the children – who have come from 56 different primary schools – and the teachers and parents, none of whom knew each other at all, have set tled into something that might be called a normal school.

There’s also a constant stream of people from around the world who want to know about the school and see how it works.

What I’ve found disappointing is the politics of the whole thing; so much of it is simply blind bigotry which attracts a lot of media attention. We get a number of Freedom of Information requests each week and each one has to be carefully researched to find out if and how we should respond. Largely, those are mischief-making; about 15-20 per cent of my time is taken up with all that. That’s a day a week away from school business.

Did you have any doubts about applying for the job?

I liked the vision and I wanted the opportunity to start my own school but it was a bit of a whirlwind. The job description said ‘you’ll be the public figure of one of the most talked-about education projects in the country’. Naively, I rather took that to mean it would be like the head of a school that had the local media pop round at exam results time. We had South Korean TV here all day last week!

Again, I have to say I didn’t expect the political side would be so vitriolic, so aggressive. Informed, intelligent debate is good but some of what we’ve received has no place in education.

Did you always want to teach?

When my father came out of the navy, he went into teaching, becoming deputy head of a very large comprehensive. I remember helping him write the school timetable when I was about ten years old so there must have been some vague interest there. He, however, was determined that none of the family would succumb to teaching as he frankly didn’t enjoy it.

Later, I wanted to be a professional idler or join the Band of the Coldstream Guards but I found I actually enjoyed teaching practice at university.

You became a Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve. Any dangerous activity in exciting places?

There’s been a lot of time in helicopters, ships and submarines. I’ve actually put my hand on a Polaris missile and I’ve slept in a torpedo tube – it was the only place big enough for a 6ft 6in bloke on a submarine. I did say to the petty officer, “If war breaks out overnight, you will remember to unload me before you start firing, won’t you?” I was on board for just three days, which was enough; there’s zero privacy on a submarine. It’s the ultimate quest for work-life balance.

I spent time hydrographically surveying the bottom of the sea. That was extraordinary... it looks like the Alps. 

• Interview by John Holt

Pro.file

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