Head’s fears over plan to expand grammar schools

A head teacher has explained her reasons for opposing the government’s plans to allow new grammar schools to be built.

Sally Lees, principal of Homewood School in Tenterden, is one of 32 non-selective school heads in the county to reject the move on the grounds that the evidence does not support the government’s claim that they improve standards.

“I am concerned about any plan to expand grammar school provision because I do not believe selection is the route to achieve the best outcomes for students of all ability,” said Mrs Lees.

“I have worked in grammar schools in the past and I believe that many grammar schools do well for the students they have in their schools, but if we look at provision for all students, it is clear that wide ability schools provide a much stronger route to success for students of all ability and level of advantage.”

Mrs Lees, along with the other Kent heads, signed a letter sent in response to the government’s consultation on its plans for new grammars, detailed in its White Paper Schools that Work for Everyone. It was also signed by Ashford head teachers John McParland, principal of The John Wallis Church of England Academy and Richard Billings, head teacher of The Towers School and Sixth Form Centre.

The letter outlines the effects on children who do not go to one of Kent’s 33 grammars, which “certainly serves to erode selfconfidence, to limit aspirations and develop a culture of ‘second best’ that good leaders in nonselective schools then spend time undoing so they can unlock the students’ true potential.”

Mrs Lees said that while the existence of grammars deepens inequalities, wide-ability schools help disadvantaged children to make better progress and are “a much stronger vehicle for social mobility”.

She added: “For example, at Homewood, 100 of our students went to university in 2016 and most of those will be from families without a history of university education.”

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Sally Lees, principal of Homewood School