The campaign for a grammar school for Sevenoaks featured on BBC South East Today on Monday 26th March, in anticipation of the full council debate to be held on Thursday 29th March.
Sevenoaks ACE has always campaigned for sufficient secondary school places that meet the needs of the community. The difficulty right now is that discussion about the grammar school is over-shadowing the wider issue on overall capacity. Kent County Council is proposing to create 180 additional secondary school places in the Sevenoaks area. With plans for 120 of these to be grammar, how will the remaining 60 be provided?
Within a selective education system, in order to meet the needs of the community, grammar provision is likely to be part of the solution.
There are presently 180 children in year 7 travelling to grammar schools in Tonbridge and T.Wells from the Sevenoaks area. There are 224 children making the same journey to other types of schools.
Establishing a grammar school in Sevenoaks is just one part of a bigger problem that we hope to help resolve.