Will things be different?
Last month, the DFE and the Grammar School Heads Association a Memorandum of Understanding was released detailed specific outcomes to be achieved by 2027.
“Both parties have a shared ambition to see:
more pupils from lower income backgrounds being admitted to selective schools
increased partnerships between selective schools and non-selective secondary schools and primary schools locally, with a view to collaborating to improve outcomes for children across their area
The purpose of the joint working between GSHA and DfE is to:
accelerate progress from selective schools around fair access and partnership, understanding and helping to overcome any barriers”
I have been in touch with the Grammar School Heads Association with the intention of talking through the following plan:
The Grammar School will work closely with primary schools to identify children who have the potential to be successful in Grammar school education.
The local Grammar School can sponsor that child to complete The Pass Masters programme (only in line with what other children of the same age and ability are having anyway). The sponsoring school will pay a discounted rate, in line with a single year of Pupil Premium money - meaning that if a child is successful, they are investing in their future with one year of Pupil Premium grant. A child who leaves grammar school at 16 will be paid that amount four more times in their school career.
The Pass Masters will take on all aspects of the family outreach - working with the children to be exam ready, supporting parents to apply for the 11-plus, ensuring they know when open evenings are, working with families independently on attitudes towards selective schooling and ensuring that there are no barriers to transport on the day of the 11-plus (if necessary).
We will ensure that families are accountable for attendance at classes, failing this they would be expected to pay back any monies owed as part of the outreach
All children who pass the 11-plus will have the same sense of satisfaction and achievement for passing! No leniency is required in terms of lowering pass grades for some students.
This Memorandum of Understanding covers 2 areas of shared interest.
access of pupils from lower income backgrounds to selective schools (‘fair access’) - our programme is highly likely to bring about success, purely because highly focussed targeting combined with excellent teaching are the biggest factors for child success. The EEF states: The best available evidence indicates that great teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve pupil attainment. Ensuring every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching is essential to achieving the best outcomes for all pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged among them
partnership between selective schools and non-selective secondary and primary schools (‘partnership’) - as a school leader I know how difficult building good links across schools can be. This is normally because the day-to-day challenges in schools often get in the way of regular and clear communication between parties, and there is a lack of accountability around the success of partnership working, meaning that there are usually higher priority actions at any given time. We’ll take the stress out of this, as soon as initial contact is made between the grammar school and the family of the identified child, we take on the rest of the burden.
Watch this space
The full post is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-between-dfe-and-grammar-school-heads-association/memorandum-of-understanding-between-dfe-and-gsha-2023-to-2027#success-measures
