Fresh deal on Sevenoaks grammar expected soon

[mystery]

Maybe wok parents will say yes or not disagree this time because no boys are mentioned in the letter and then the boys issue can sort itself out. But running a three form annex in a separate town at a fair distance ( which it must be otherwise the notion of an annex in Sevenoaks Town would not be so popular) sounds expensive. Do WoK parents have concerns that it could be a drain on the school budget? And would Sevenoaks parents want to send their girls to a satellite start up rather than a complete campus with children of all ages. Given the choice, I wouldn't.

What do the stats for grammar potential boys and girls look like when the planned / possible on-site expansions at the various grammars round and about are taken into account? And what do they look like for the school population as a whole? I still haven't really understood from any official document how many extra school places are still needed over the next decade or so in sevenoaks town, sevenoaks district, west kent etc. There must be some clear data though as the planning authority found it persuasive?

I like your theory about delays due to shared areas between the two schools needing user agreements etc in the lease for trinity and maybe that is why building is delayed. But is building delayed or not? We don't know if it is or not? And are there any shared areas which require agreement with the grammar school as opposed to with the landowner, the local authority? I am not sure that there are.

Anyhow, it gives prospective parents something to ask at the Weald open mornings this term. Is it listed on the kcc website as a consultation in the schools section?

[doodles]

With regard to school population, Mystery, I know of at least 3 Sevenoaks primary schools that have had to open an additional reception class in the last two years. That's without adding in any extra classes added in by schools in the satellite villages.

I'm surprised the "boy issue" is not being addressed as I was always under the impression that there was more of a squeeze on boys places than girls places.

Hey ho, ever onwards!!

[mystery]

Yes, the school population is increasing but I've not seen a document which brings everything together - population stats, current school sizes, current school occupancy levels, planned expansions, future projections etc and pops out with the clearcut answer that 6 new classes of selective and 4 new classes of non-selective are needed, based in Sevenoaks, for evermore. If the data is there, why not make it more comprehensible to the interested taxpayer?

[doodles]

The answer to that Mystery is simple; information is power! If they make information easy to assimilate and review then it makes it easier to challenge their position. They are hoping that people give up wading through the bog of facts and fiction, however they have reckoned without the tenacity of EPE members!!

[JJ123]

[quote="mystery"] Do WoK parents have concerns that it could be a drain on the school budget? And would Sevenoaks parents want to send their girls to a satellite start up rather than a complete campus with children of all ages. Given the choice, I wouldn't.

Yes Mystery i think this is exactly the issue. A head teacher (and staff) stretched across two sites miles apart will never be a favourable option. Purely from a girls perspective too, for the last two years girls have got in to Wok from as far as plaxtol, wrotham and westerham. This would not suggest (albeit imminently ) that there is an immediate need for girls places. So if it opens in 2015/16 who on earth will go there and assuming it's sevenoaks girls who will make up numbers in Tonbridge ?

Cant be good for either site.

For existing Wok parents there don't seem any plus points to this Sevenoaks development - or am i missing something ? I'm sure the Wok parents living outside "TN13" are sick of hearing about 7oaks and their needs!

For those with future siblings there are of course many more questions...

Anyhow i thought the main priority was boys - has no boys school stepped up - and so is this just a first step to Wok becoming co-ed after all.

Lack of information and absence of transparency frankly rubbish... again .... Wok never try to endorse the positives of any such change, is this because they don't want it or because they cant be seen to be being persuasive ?

[mystery]

I'm assuming that no boys school has stepped up otherwise by now they could easily have dashed off an application to expand into this whizzy new building. So the plan still has to be for WoK to start off with expanding into a 3 form girls annex and then go co-ed and then expand again in the annex? A whole string of significant changes so a lot of bureaucracy along the way.

How long will that take? Won't other schools have had to fill the places shortage before then? When is the biggest bulge of boys expected? All you Sevenoaks parents need to do something to stop conceiving so many boys relative to girls.

[JJ123]

Such a shame Mr Masters ( Judd HT) won't step up. He's the only head i know that i'd be confident in running two sites miles apart.

How come WOk feel so at pressure to "help out" but the others dont ? Plenty of sevenoaks children at Judd ...

[chimera-ma]

I think it's because of the commitment KCC has given, which is for a non-super-selective grammar in Sevenoaks.

This reflects the Sevenoaks Grammar School Campaign's petitioning and the fact that the group facing the worst commute are local boys who pass the 11+ but not well enough to get into Judd, Skinner's or Dartford. TWGSB, which is not super-selective, is oversubscribed and a great many Sevenoaks District boys therefore miss out based on distance from the school.

[JJ123]

Yes i understand that the "super selective" is a stumbling block but if a way round could be sought so that one site took highest marks and the other lower job done .....

Was the boys still a problem in the end ? My understanding this year was that boys as far away as Knockolt and Sundridge all got into Twells boys in the end.

How far away were those from Sevenoaks who didnt get into the favoured Grammar i wonder.

Yet again begging the question do Sevenoaks even need a Grammar at this stage **broken record**

[doodles]

Yes i understand that the "super selective" is a stumbling block but if a way round could be sought so that one site took highest marks and the other lower job done .....

But then it wouldn't be an annex but a different school with different entry requirements ,- a whole new can of worms