January 20: Is KCC's grammar grab hitting trouble?
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IT was hailed
as a "commonsense" solution that would do much to assuage anxious
parents worried about whether they could get a place at
over-subscribed grammar schools in west Kent.
But rather predictably, the solution
put forward by KCC leader Paul Carter is already
provoking disquiet and while it may not yet be unravelling it is
already showing signs of fraying at the edges.
Why? Because the solution is to force
grammar schools in east Kent – Shepway and Dover –
to effectively relinquish spare places they have and agree to them
being transferred to west Kent.
And guess what? Grammar schools in
Dover and Shepway are not terribly keen at being
told and have already broken ranks to say so. This comes on top of
the opposition expressed by non-selective schools in west Kent
before Christmas.
KCC ought not to be surprised. There
is genuine indignation among the east Kent schools, some of whom
have said they had no idea anything was on the agenda and have yet
to be consulted.
I expect that resistance will grow
rather than diminish and it will be interesting to see what line
MPs and prospective MPs take. (Michael Howard was
deeply critical of KCC’s primary school closures programme).
One point they make is that while KCC
forecasts a dip in pupil numbers, there is as yet no evidence of it
feeding through. On top of that, the introduction of high speed
rail services to both areas, along with housing growth, means
demand is likely to increase rather than decrease.
There are other points. KCC’s plan is
designed to increase capacity in west Kent to allow parents in Kent
a greater chance of securing places in the face of increasing
numbers of applications from out of the county – such as Surrey,
Sussex and London.
But if capacity is increased, KCC
would be powerless under current admissions regulations to do
anything to stop additional places being taken up by children from
outside the county. This point was raised by opposition leader Cllr
Trudy Dean (Lib Dem) at a meeting last week when the issue was
flagged up. She pointed out that no education authority is able to
restrict places just for Kent pupils where they might apply from
elsewhere.
Headteachers are also concerned that
KCC appears to be suggesting that unless schools agree to a
reduction in their admissions numbers, then money for re-building
and re-developing their premises might not come forward under the
Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.
The fusing of these two issues has not
gone down well among east Kent headteachers, who see it as an
implied threat to promised redevelopment.
County Hall has not
been terribly deft in its handling of the issue. The first the
schools appeared to learn about it in Dover and Shepway was a copy
of a letter sent by Cllr Sarah Hohler (Con),
cabinet member for chidrens services, to Cllr Robert
Bliss (Con), the leader of Shepway council.
The issue got an airing at Shepway
council's Communities Overview Committee on
Tuesday - which gave the heads of the two grammars to give vent to
their aggrieved feelings and complain they were being kept in the
dark.
Cllr Susan Carey - also a KCC member -
valiantly triecd to pour oil on troubled waters but I sense members
were not entirely convinced.
It would be ironic that after years
nurturing better relations between its secondary schools, KCC
found itself pitching grammars against grammars.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do children who fail the eleven plus leave primary school with a
sense of low esteem? Lots of headteachers seem to think so but the
powers that be often rubbish the idea, suggesting that the 11-plus
is simply a way of assessing which school would be "appropriate"
for a child. Interestingly, supporters of the 11-plus often talk
about how valuable a lesson it is for children to learn that life
is all about meeting challenges and dealing with success and
failure.
So I was interested to see this from a
recent edition of Governors News about the federation of a grammar
school and a non-selective school in Thanet:
Headlined "Federation brings
outstanding success", an article by Andy Williamson, Senior
Secondary Adviser, reports:
"When it was announced that Dane Court Grammar School and King
Ethelbert School were to federate, no one could have anticipated
the success it would bring. The students at King Ethelbert often
had low self esteem as many of their primary peers moved on to a
local grammar school. What this federation has allowed us to do is
demonstrate to both sets of students that they each have unique
skills and abilities and both can learn from each other. Our
students have certainly grown in confidence since having the
opportunities to study and learn alongside their counterparts from
Dane Court."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ARE cracks appearing in the protracted
efforts to get councils in east Kent to join
forces to provide "shared services"?
The idea is that costs can be cut if
local authorities agree to club together and provide services like
rubbish collections and payroll functions together.
But all is not well.
Shepway council is getting distinctly cold feet
about certain elements – contrary to how to how it has been
reported elsewhere – with chief executive Alastair
Stewart saying the council wants some answers
before agreeing to go forward with more sharing plans.
"We have serious concerns and
unless these concerns are satisfactorily addressed we will not be
staying in this joint services project. We are also concerned that
there will be financial disadvantages to councils, like Shepway,
which have already started making significant efficiencies and
transforming their services," he says.
This may not amount to a precursor to
a divorce but it looks like the partners are looking for a
breathing space before deciding whether they can settle their
differences and live in harmony.
Wednesday, January 20 2010
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