tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8888848804347928571.post2578379157537653163..comments2024-02-25T06:41:19.588+00:00Comments on Conor's Commentary: Are grammar schools really on the rise again?Conor Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457628816008082005noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8888848804347928571.post-26254009203671950022012-04-07T20:43:44.985+01:002012-04-07T20:43:44.985+01:00Some more searching quastions could be asked about...Some more searching quastions could be asked about 11+ Counties and Boroughs. I suggest<br />1) How many 11+ passes did not enter higher education?<br />2) What plans do the Council and the School Governers have to ensure that more 11+ failures than 11+ passes enter Higher Education? <br /><br />Question 2) would be relevant wherever the 11+ is passed by 20% or 25% of the age group. It would be essential if those areas are ever to get 50% of their young people into higher education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8888848804347928571.post-17137298778169173702012-04-03T19:04:22.365+01:002012-04-03T19:04:22.365+01:00• There was a last minute change to the School Adm...• There was a last minute change to the School Admissions Code between consultation and its final form. A promise to allow objections to the adjudicator against school expansion was in the consultation document and then specifically outlawed in the final version. So all ability schools in Sevenoaks will have no opportunity to object if a grammar satellite arrives. <br />• The vote in Ripon should not be called in evidence of what parents want. Because of the weird ballot regulations many Ripon parents did not get a vote, private school parents were over represented and the nature of legislation meant that that parents could not be given a plan for change as they would have been in the past when local authorities made changes to end selection. <br />• In any case there is need to question why this particular decision should be left to parents. Parents get no choice about other educational changes - local academies or free schools for example. International evidence is clear that selective systems do not narrow the gap in attainment between rich and poor and do not produce better results overall. Ability and potential are not fixed at 11. No main political party supports selection so there are many good reasons why a Government should act to end it with proper consultation and support for gradual change.<br />• Perhaps Conor Ryan (who is perhaps also a ‘siren voice’) can tell us if Labour collected evidence before 1997 about what a difference it would have made to the Kent vote if Labour had promised to end selection? <br />• Julian Gravatt is quite right the intake into selective school sixth forms recent parliamentary answer showed proportions eligible for free school meals are even lower than 11 -16. (Nick Gibb MP (7 March 2012) Schools: Admissions, House of Commons Parliamentary Answer to Lisa Nandy MP)<br /><br />Margaret Tulloch<br />Comprehensive FutureMargaret Tullochhttp://www.comprehensivefuture.org.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8888848804347928571.post-69624092293280910692012-04-03T17:59:59.572+01:002012-04-03T17:59:59.572+01:00Dear Conor,
The media has been overstating the na...Dear Conor,<br /><br />The media has been overstating the national importance of the Sevenoaks ‘satellite’ grammar school. No one is calling for the reintroduction of selective education in the country, least of all the Sevenoaks parents.<br /><br />There are a number of critical factors unique to Sevenoaks that make the ‘satellite’ grammar school feasible here, but nowhere else. These critical factors are not all present anywhere else in the country, meaning that no other satellite grammar schools will be possible. <br /><br />The critical factors are:-<br /><br />- Supportive local council;<br />- High population growth in school age children (c. 40% increase over next 6 years);<br />- Very large number of grammar school children (c. 1,150) being transported daily out of town up to 20 miles;<br />- Existing selective education system;<br />- Strong local community support (70% support a ‘satellite’ grammar school in the town; only 11% support a new comprehensive school); and<br />- Vacant secondary school site in the town. <br /><br />Sevenoaks is a “one-off”. It won’t be repeated elsewhere. It does not signal the widespread reintroduction of selective education across the country “by the back door”. It is not “the thin edge of the wedge”. It is not a “Tory plot” – it is merely something that the Sevenoaks parents have been requesting for years as Sevenoaks is the only district in Kent that is within the grammar school system but without a grammar school, forcing our children to travel to and from school for two hours every day, many on overcrowded and dangerous buses. <br /><br />The satellite school located in our town will merely be a facility to alleviate the burden of travelling for a large number of children who are already within a selective education system. It will also be brought in via the front door, in full public view.<br /><br />Best regards,<br /><br />Andrew Shilling<br />Sevenoaks Grammar School CampaignAndrew Shillingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8888848804347928571.post-16955729557997075432012-04-02T22:20:42.371+01:002012-04-02T22:20:42.371+01:00Sensible comments. One small query. Some grammar s...Sensible comments. One small query. Some grammar school take on new students into their sixth forms and, I assume, persuade weaker pupils to go elsewhere. It's always worth looking behind the A-level results of 11-18 schools.Julian Gravattnoreply@blogger.com