Daily Mail article

[um]

Ok, I am of the opinion that the Daily Mail is 70% fiction and 20% punctuation mistakes, but this seems interesting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... upils.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[um]

Quote:

In addition, it will increase funding for two independent schools it controls by £3million in order to expand the range of subsidies and scholarships on offer for poorer students, the Independent said.

[um]

And The Independent's article is here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 33407.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[um]

And the really big news is:

"We aim to implement changes that will make all of our schools more accessible from 2015" from the secretary to the governors of the foundation.

I can only assume that this means giving priority to pupils on free school meals?

[Okanagan]

Possibly - or more likely the introduction of a minimum score, and those eligible for the pupil premium have to reach this score, above which they become a priority category. They've introduced something like this for the first time this year at Lawrence Sheriff in Rugby, so we'll see in March what effect it has.

[mystery]

Is this expansion per school at a percentage which will require DfE approval or not? If it is, good luck to them in getting it approved in time for 2015!

It's not clear what the easier access will be - maybe something like some of the top unis do to make admissions for accessible - lower academic score required for children with certain categories of parents (e.g. not graduates), post code, FSM, income etc etc.

Looks like the political wind might be changing too where new grammar schools are concerned perhaps? Maybe this is why the DfE has not yet given a yes or a no to the proposed grammar annexe in Sevenoaks.

[um]

The increased numbers have already gone through for September 2014.

But the schools will change their admissions criteria for September 15 from what I can see - or maybe try some more outreach programs with schools in deprived areas?

I can't see how you can go by postcode in Birmingham. B13 can get you a council flat in Billesley or a £1.5million house in Moseley - it's the same postcode.
I think they'll go for the FSM category as this will increase their funding.

It is difficult to try to make this all 'fair'. Birmingham, like other big cities, operates a huge dichotomy in terms of primary-level education. This is a main cause of the unfairness, in my opinion. I have visited primary schools where Year 5 children were learning to write their names (yes, really) and others where Year 3 children were studying and commenting on classical poetry. Our primary schools are too many worlds apart, and to be frank, if a child is in a bad one, they don't really have much chance of a KE Grammar School.

[catwoman]

Which are the 2 independent schools ?

[Okanagan]

King Edward's (boys) and King Edward VI High School for Girls.

[muminbrum]

I forget where I saw it but I read somthing recently about making GS offer ten sessions of exam preparation to all to minimise the effect of parents paying for tutoring.