Consultation meeting about Sevenoaks Grammar school

[mystery]

Look on their website - there's a meeting at Amherst in the evening on Thursday 20 th June.

Can't go. Can anyone who goes please report back on here what was said?

I'd like to know:

- why the existing West Kent grammars didn't take up the offer for sports funding and doing an annex proposal

- what will happen to the grammar if the Christian school gets the Wildernesse site - where will the grammar be located?

- what will happen to the Christian school / the extra non-selective places that are needed in Kent if hte grammar school gets the Wildernesse site?

- is it possible to offer a full range of subjects and specialist teaching in the annex for just year 7, then year 7 and 8 etc etc ...

- what is the soonest it could now be open? Is September 2015 still realistic considering it's over a year now since it was debated by KCC?

- are the other West Kent grammars able to meet the demand for grammar places in West Kent over the rise in population predicted over the next few years if the annex does not go ahead?

- are there other locations that Invicta could use in West Kent if they don't succeed with the Wildnernesse site and if the other grammars cannot provide sufficient places going forwards?

[mystery]

Anyone going?

[doodles]

Too busy I'm afraid - new parents eve at Skinners - otherwise I would have.

[mystery]

It did get advertised to us via school so hopefully people know it's happening - but we only got an e-mail earlier this week. Great if it's just information giving but if it's part of a decision-making process it's going to be a bit of a strange turn-out.

It would be nice to have the info they are providing at the meeting stuck on a website. Maybe it will be placed on the grammar website after the meeting.

[mystery]

Anyone going? I would also like to know why they don't have a plan b if they don't get the wildernesse site.

They had a briefing meeting for headteachers on 12 June. When does the public get the information so they can make an informed response to the consultation document. At the moment it feels like a yes to the grammar school is a no to the Christian school which is a hard choice to make.

And since the latest news on Weald it feels like a yes to invicta could be a blow to Weald and other existing grammars if they don't fill up future year 7 classes due to a surplus of places in sevenoaks district.

A lot of sevenoaks parents have children at different grammar schools and no matter how much a school in sevenoaks would be desirable to them they would not want an existing grammar to suffer financially as a result.

Some audited impartial data from kcc officers made available to the public would be useful, rather than sound bytes from opponents with data cherry picked to support their point of view.

[tigger2]

I cannot get onto the website at the moment for some reason....can anyone tell me what time the meeting begins please?

Thanks
Tigger

[mystery]

7.30 pm at Amherst junior.

[mystery]

What was presented and discussed?

[mystery]

Anybody go to this? No news here or on the grammar website yet.

[whichwaytogo]

Hi, I went. There was a very thorough and well thought out presentation by the Invicata team. They hope to get a definitive answer by December, but are making detailed plans in the meantime. They presented a cgi of how the Wilderness site would look transformed into Invicta at Sevenoaks.

The mood of the meeting seemed very positive, with lots of questions after. Concerns were addressed on how familiar they are with boys! But as they work in partnership with Valley School which is mixed, and also have their boys in the sixth form, they felt they had this covered.

There are concerns over legal challenges to what there proposals are, and also the Wilderness site of course.

However, I came away thinking they would be a great asset in Sevenoaks.

They are currently in consultation period and the response form in on their website.

There is also a presentation by the Weald of Kent team on their proposals for expansion, which will be held at Amherst on 10th July at 7:00.