Boot camp: The proposed school should not be thought of as an outpost of the army, 'but a community institution that happens to employ soldiers'. Photograph: studiomode/Alamy It conjures an image of a red-faced sergeant major hollering at the quivering boy in 3B who has forgotten his maths homework. But backers of a proposed free school that will be staffed entirely by former soldiers say parade ground humiliations are the last thing on their minds. Instead, the Phoenix free school in Manchester would offer students ambitious academic goals, outdoor activities and a demonstration of "martial values". In the modern army, it says, these values are "self-discipline, respect and an ability to listen". There will be high standards of behaviour -- but no demands to "get down and give me 50". The new 11-18 secondary school, which has yet to find a location, is being proposed by the Centre for Policy Studies , a thinktank, and is backed by Lord Guthrie, a former chief of the defence staff. Its intended headteacher is an army captain, Affan Burki, and it may be housed on surplus army land, such as a "disused TA [territorial army] drill hall". Tom Burkard, a research fellow at the thinktank who is on the steering committee for the planned school, said: "I want to get away from the idea that it is going to be a glasshouse or sin-bin. "I want to ensure that kids are there because they want to be there. You need a stick somewhere