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All schools to get a chance to become grammars?

First they were to be all academies, now grammar schools- good or bad?

It's good to encourage our children to be the best, and study hard

She will insist that any school wishing to become a grammar - selecting pupils on the basis of academic achievement - must abide by quotas for children from low-income homes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/08/all-schools-to-get-a-chance-to-become-grammars-under-theresa-may/

Reply 1

Asolare

Original post by SMEGGGY

The most worrying part about the article is:

New faith schools will be given permission to select pupils purely on the basis of their religious background.

That can only go well...

Reply 2

chazwomaq

I don't understand the principle.

You can't have ALL schools being selective by definition. If you select the top 25% into one school, there must be 3 non-selective schools nearby to cater for the rest.

Forcing grammars to take in a proportion of low-income pupils is good, but could be tricky if they have to drop standards for them. You could imagine them being bullied or marginalised in the school ("you're only here because you're poor", "poorer children aren't as clever" etc). I like the principle of selecting on ability rather than house price though.

And how does "'here will be no “return to the past” of mass 11-plus tests to ensure that schools do not separate children into “winners and losers”' work? How else will you decide who goes to these new grammars?

Reply 3

username1221160

The argument for grammar schools seems be based on the idea that we will give those with some academic ability a leg up. However those who aren't so lucky won't get such opportunities and will be left behind. Most working class kids from areas with long term intertwined economic/health/education problems won't benefit from this.

I just see this as May throwing a bone to middle class parents who don't believe their kids can succeed at the local comp but don't want to or can't pay private school fees. It's a very large bone that is dominating the headlines and keeping Brexit plans (or the lack of) off the front pages.

Reply 4

The_JoKeR

Keeping existing grammar schools is a good idea. More grammar schools is a bad idea.

Reply 5

Laomedeia

It should help separate the thick students from the bright ones. Its the thick ones who are usually bullies and they can hold back more talented students. You cant teach one person particle physics and teach some noisy idiot how to wield a pen in the same class. Hence the reason for selective schools. When I was in school, many students would have benefited more from rehabilitation or prison than a classroom. And I have turned out thick as s****. Yeah I agree with the principle at least.

Reply 6

BabyLadDarren

Original post by The_JoKeR

Keeping existing grammar schools is a good idea. More grammar schools is a bad idea.

But there simply aren't enough in certain areas and way too many in others (Kent).

Reply 7

Trinculo

Original post by The_JoKeR

Keeping existing grammar schools is a good idea. More grammar schools is a bad idea.

Why?

There are so few grammar schools that they are in effect useless. To get into most grammar schools, 11+ scores have to be so high as to be meaningless. Effectively, only candidates with absolutely top results are getting in - and surely that misses the point. An excellent student getting 98/100 might miss out just because so many more people got 99/100.

The current dearth of grammar schools also means they are entirely disconnected from their communities. It's not uncommon for 11+ candidates to travel across cities or counties, rather than being in any way local.

Grammar schools only work if there are a lot of them.