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| Kent grammar decision is 'a bad day for education', says head of nearby school | Kent grammar decision is 'a bad day for education', says head of nearby school |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The announcement of England’s first new selective school in decades is “a bad, sad day for education”, according to the headteacher of an all-abilities academy in Kent that now faces losing many of its more academically able students. | The announcement of England’s first new selective school in decades is “a bad, sad day for education”, according to the headteacher of an all-abilities academy in Kent that now faces losing many of its more academically able students. |
| Related: Conservatives give green light to first grammar school in half a century | Related: Conservatives give green light to first grammar school in half a century |
| Mary Boyle is principal of Knole academy, a non-selective school in Sevenoaks, Kent, where a new grammar school, billed as an annexe to Weald of Kent girls’ grammar nine miles away in Tonbridge, has been approved by the Department for Education. | Mary Boyle is principal of Knole academy, a non-selective school in Sevenoaks, Kent, where a new grammar school, billed as an annexe to Weald of Kent girls’ grammar nine miles away in Tonbridge, has been approved by the Department for Education. |
| Boyle said she feared the new outpost, admitting girls only until the sixth form and due to open in 2017, would cream off many of the top-performing local students who currently attend Knole. | Boyle said she feared the new outpost, admitting girls only until the sixth form and due to open in 2017, would cream off many of the top-performing local students who currently attend Knole. |
| “It’s a bad, sad day for education in general, not just for this school,” she told the Guardian. “People will look at our school, and see it’s an all-abilities school, and if their child is of top ability they’ll now be more likely to try and get their child into the grammar school. Certainly in Kent, there is something very magical about this word, ‘grammar’, which I can’t really fathom.” | “It’s a bad, sad day for education in general, not just for this school,” she told the Guardian. “People will look at our school, and see it’s an all-abilities school, and if their child is of top ability they’ll now be more likely to try and get their child into the grammar school. Certainly in Kent, there is something very magical about this word, ‘grammar’, which I can’t really fathom.” |
| Like many critics of grammars, Boyle notes the fact that such schools tend to attract an excessively privileged intake, with few qualifying for the pupil premium, a government funding bonus which assists more disadvantaged youngsters. | Like many critics of grammars, Boyle notes the fact that such schools tend to attract an excessively privileged intake, with few qualifying for the pupil premium, a government funding bonus which assists more disadvantaged youngsters. |
| “For me, it harks back to this 1950s, ‘give a working-class child a chance’ kind of thing,” Boyle said. “But we all know now that grammar schools don’t just select by ability, effectively they select by money as well. | “For me, it harks back to this 1950s, ‘give a working-class child a chance’ kind of thing,” Boyle said. “But we all know now that grammar schools don’t just select by ability, effectively they select by money as well. |
| “That’s very clear when you look at the percentages of pupils who get the pupil premium. For Weald of Kent it’s something like 1% or 1.5%. It’s 21% [at Knole academy]. You’re selecting by the ability to coach children through the 11-plus. You’re selecting by expensive uniforms, the ability to pay into a voluntary fund, all of that.” | “That’s very clear when you look at the percentages of pupils who get the pupil premium. For Weald of Kent it’s something like 1% or 1.5%. It’s 21% [at Knole academy]. You’re selecting by the ability to coach children through the 11-plus. You’re selecting by expensive uniforms, the ability to pay into a voluntary fund, all of that.” |
| David Bower, chair of governors for Weald of Kent, said he accepted some of this criticism, but did not think it meant the annexe should not be built. | David Bower, chair of governors for Weald of Kent, said he accepted some of this criticism, but did not think it meant the annexe should not be built. |
| “It’s an extremely difficult one, and as a board of governors we obviously want to provide the education we do to as wide a group as possible,” he said. “But the county council is working as hard to make the 11-plus as tutor-proof as possible, and we will be looking to see if we can make exceptional provision for children from less affluent areas.” | “It’s an extremely difficult one, and as a board of governors we obviously want to provide the education we do to as wide a group as possible,” he said. “But the county council is working as hard to make the 11-plus as tutor-proof as possible, and we will be looking to see if we can make exceptional provision for children from less affluent areas.” |
| Related: The Tories’ shifting grammar school stance will fail poor children | Tom Clark | |
| Bower hailed the decision by the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, as “very good news”, even if, such was the political sensitivity, the news was briefed to newspapers before the school was told: “The first we heard of it was the press telling us. That did disappoint us a little bit.” | Bower hailed the decision by the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, as “very good news”, even if, such was the political sensitivity, the news was briefed to newspapers before the school was told: “The first we heard of it was the press telling us. That did disappoint us a little bit.” |
| Roger Gough, Kent county council’s cabinet member for education, said about 1,600 students were travelling every day from Sevenoaks to Weald of Kent and other grammar schools anyway. | Roger Gough, Kent county council’s cabinet member for education, said about 1,600 students were travelling every day from Sevenoaks to Weald of Kent and other grammar schools anyway. |
| He said: “There’s been strong desire from families in the Sevenoaks area to see grammar provision there, and we believe this is being delivered through the expansion of an existing school.” | He said: “There’s been strong desire from families in the Sevenoaks area to see grammar provision there, and we believe this is being delivered through the expansion of an existing school.” |
| Related: Grammar school decision likely to spur more bids for 'satellite' developments | Related: Grammar school decision likely to spur more bids for 'satellite' developments |
| Bower also stressed this point, saying the school saw the move as strictly an expansion, not a green light for new grammars: “As far as we are concerned, we have submitted this bid on the basis it is an annexe to an existing school, because Sevenoaks doesn’t have a selective school. We were quite clear about that, and I think the Department for Education wanted to make sure we were quite clear about that. What might happen nationally will happen.” | Bower also stressed this point, saying the school saw the move as strictly an expansion, not a green light for new grammars: “As far as we are concerned, we have submitted this bid on the basis it is an annexe to an existing school, because Sevenoaks doesn’t have a selective school. We were quite clear about that, and I think the Department for Education wanted to make sure we were quite clear about that. What might happen nationally will happen.” |
| However, Boyle said she believed the decision could “open the floodgates” to new grammars nationally, leading to a loss of status for schools like Knole. | However, Boyle said she believed the decision could “open the floodgates” to new grammars nationally, leading to a loss of status for schools like Knole. |
| “The problem is that people read results, they don’t read progress or value for money, or the wider educational and learning experience,” she said. “People assume that a good or outstanding school is one that has 100% of pupils getting five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths. But what they don’t see is that if you’re taking an all-ability intake, you’re not going to have this. You’re looking after all children.” | “The problem is that people read results, they don’t read progress or value for money, or the wider educational and learning experience,” she said. “People assume that a good or outstanding school is one that has 100% of pupils getting five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths. But what they don’t see is that if you’re taking an all-ability intake, you’re not going to have this. You’re looking after all children.” |
| She also believes the social selection aspect of grammar schools is an active, if largely unspoken, attraction for middle-class parents: “Some more affluent parents who live in Sevenoaks town don’t really want their children associating with those who have a little bit less money. For the more enlightened parents that’s not the case at all. But there is certainly an element of that.” | She also believes the social selection aspect of grammar schools is an active, if largely unspoken, attraction for middle-class parents: “Some more affluent parents who live in Sevenoaks town don’t really want their children associating with those who have a little bit less money. For the more enlightened parents that’s not the case at all. But there is certainly an element of that.” |