MORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Thank you to all of our fantastic supporters for providing their continuing helpful feedback. Many of you have raised excellent questions, and we have reproduced these below.

Secondary Educational Provision In Sevenoaks

Q: Why is Kent’s selective education system not working properly in Sevenoaks?

A: Kent’s education system might have worked well in Sevenoaks if Kent grammar schools were evenly distributed over the county, but they are not; Sevenoaks District has no grammar school at all. This means that children from Sevenoaks and, in particular, from its surrounding villages to the north and west, are seriously disadvantaged when grammar school places are allocated.

Significant issues for Sevenoaks include the following:

1. Across Kent as a whole, the number of secondary school places in state schools equates to about 88% of the county's secondary-aged children. (The remaining 12% are private school places). For individual Districts, excluding Sevenoaks, for every 100 secondary-aged children the number of secondary places ranges from 108 in Maidstone to 85 in Ashford. But for Sevenoaks, the corresponding figure is a paltry 35 places. By way of comparison, Sevenoaks provides school places for 86 out of every 100 primary-aged children.

2. Across Kent as a whole, 28% of the places in mainstream secondary schools are in grammar schools. Excluding Sevenoaks, the number of grammar school places as a percentage of total secondary places varies, by District, between 40% (Dartford) and 22% (Gravesham). But for Sevenoaks the corresponding figure is 0% - there are no grammar schools at all in Sevenoaks District.

So Sevenoaks has an inadequate provision of secondary schools, and a profoundly inadequate provision of grammar schools.

As a result, a high proportion of children living in Sevenoaks have to travel outside the District to go to secondary school, mainly to Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, as well as Dartford. Sevenoaks District is the highest exporter of students to other districts; in fact more Sevenoaks children travel to other districts for their secondary education than are educated within the District itself. (Of the Sevenoaks area children who left state primary schools in 2010-11, 441 were offered places at secondary schools, 117 (27%) within Sevenoaks District and 324 (73%) outside of Sevenoaks District).

Many Sevenoaks children suffer this built-in disadvantage, and have to travel a long way to get to secondary school. And all the children who attend grammar schools have to travel outside the District. Furthermore, when schools use proximity as an over-subscription criterion, Sevenoaks children tend to find themselves at the back of the queue.

Sevenoaks families and their children have suffered this injustice for too long. The time is overdue for it to be remedied.

The Values Of A Sevenoaks Grammar School

Q: What values will be held by the Sevenoaks Grammar School?

A: We wish to establish a school that achieves academic excellence; that allows each pupil to achieve their full potential; and that contributes to the life of the local community. Our school will have a strong community focus, including a moral and educational obligation to work with the local primary schools and the Sevenoaks non-selective secondary school (The Knole Academy) to increase the educational aspirations and skills of all local children. 

The Impact On The Knole Academy

Q: How will a Sevenoaks Grammar School impact on The Knole Academy?

A: A Sevenoaks grammar school will have no detrimental impact on The Knole Academy. This is because a non-super selective Sevenoaks grammar school will not admit pupils who would otherwise have attended The Knole Academy. Instead, the grammar school will provide a local education to the 1150 Sevenoaks area children who currently travel to grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

In fact, a Sevenoaks grammar school will have a beneficial impact on The Knole Academy in at least two ways:-

Firstly, by the two schools working together at Sixth Form level to provide additional subject options to the pupils of both schools. The curriculums of both schools will differ markedly at Sixth Form level, with each school offering a significant number of subjects that the other school does not teach. For example, The Knole Academy does not teach ‘A’ Level Physics, a subject that a Sevenoaks grammar school would teach.

Secondly, by aiding The Knole Academy’s annual admissions planning process. At present, due to the shortage of grammar school places in West Kent, many Sevenoaks area children who pass the 11 plus exam are initially offered places at The Knole Academy. However, several months later, as an outcome of the appeals process, these children are often offered grammar schools places in Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells or Dartford, and therefore they decline their places at The Knole Academy.

According to The Knole Academy head teacher, this causes significant problems for her school. This is because the school finds itself unable to plan for its new intake of pupils until a very late stage because it does not know the number of pupils to be admitted, and therefore how many teachers will need to be employed, how many classes will be required, and what the lessons timetable will be.

A non-super selective Sevenoaks grammar school would eliminate this problem for The Knole Academy by ensuring that there are adequate local grammar school places available, meaning that all local children who pass the 11 plus exam and choose a selective school would immediately be offered a grammar school place, and would never be offered a place at The Knole Academy. The Knole Academy would then know at an early stage the number of new pupils that it would be admitting, and it would therefore be able to plan with confidence the number of new teachers and classes required.

In these and other ways, a Sevenoaks grammar school would improve The Knole Academy, enabling it to make further progress in attracting back to the town the 59%* of Sevenoaks area state school pupils who currently choose to attend non-selective schools in other towns, despite the additional travel time and costs involved.

*Of the Sevenoaks area children who left state primary schools in 2010-11, 441 were offered places at secondary schools. Of those, 159 were offered places at grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. Of the remaining 282 Sevenoaks area children, 117 (41%) applied for, and were offered places at, The Knole Academy, and 165 (59%) applied for, and were offered places at, state schools in nearby towns (69 at secondary faith schools and 96 at other secondary schools).

The Impact On Local Primary Schools

Q: How will a Sevenoaks Grammar School impact on local primary schools?

A: The Sevenoaks Grammar School will have a strong community focus, including a moral and educational obligation to work with the local primary schools. We aim for our teaching staff to engage with the local community by providing science and language lessons to local primary school children to inspire and increase their educational aspirations.

The Impact On The Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells Grammar Schools

Q: How will a Sevenoaks Grammar School impact on the grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells?

A: 1150 Sevenoaks area children travel to grammar schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells every day. Therefore, if the Sevenoaks Grammar School were to be established, a significant number of grammar school places in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells would become freed up for local Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells children, which would be to the considerable benefit to the people of those towns and nearby villages. It will also considerably reduce rush hour congestion near to the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammar schools as the buses from Sevenoaks will largely be replaced by local children walking to school.

Children in other parts of Kent (including children in towns and villages near to Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells that do not have grammar schools, such as Kings Hill) would also benefit from a grammar school in Sevenoaks. Fewer Sevenoaks children would take places at Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammar schools, meaning that these other children would be awarded places there instead. This would mean less travelling and travel costs for these children as well, and this would hopefully also improve social inclusion in those towns and villages.

Finally, many of the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammar schools are already heavily over-subscribed with no further room to expand. There is also anticipated to be a surge in school age children in West Kent in the near future, which will place further pressure on admissions for the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammar schools. A Sevenoaks Grammar School will immediately release the pressure on these schools by creating much-needed new grammar school places in West Kent.

The Size Of The Sevenoaks Grammar School

Q: How large will the Sevenoaks Grammar School be?

A: In relation to the academic year 2011/12, 204 Sevenoaks area children were offered places at Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells grammar schools – 109 at super selective schools and 95 at non-super selective schools.

It is too early to say how many children will choose the Sevenoaks Grammar School (which will be non-super selective), and how many will prefer to attend the super selective schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. However, based on the views of the people we have spoken to, provided that the Sevenoaks Grammar School has high academic standards, most parents say that they would prefer their children to attend the Sevenoaks Grammar School.

It therefore appears that a four form entry Sevenoaks Grammar School of 120 pupils would likely be over-subscribed. This is before any consideration of future increases in population. Therefore, a six form entry (three boys’ forms; three girls’ forms) Sevenoaks Grammar School may prove to be a more appropriate solution to the educational needs of Sevenoaks and its surrounding villages.