KCC own the land, so they may have the last word, but apparently Sevenoaks MP Michael Fallon is supporting both proposals! However, the Department for Education is desperate to set up new Free Schools and has funds available, so this could tilt the balance. What is certain is that there will be an enormous amount of political lobbying by both camps in the coming months.
The team developing the 'Sevenoaks Christian School' (working title) proposal is close to submitting a formal proposal to the Department for Education in February. You will find details here, but their vision includes: "The school will have a strong Christian ethos, but if it is oversubscribed then at least 50% of places will be reserved for children who are not from church-going families. We will in due course publish our proposed admissions criteria on this website. We believe that the Christian faith has much to offer to the education of our children and young people, as shown by the popularity of Church Schools both nationally and locally. We want this school to be academically excellent. Bennett Memorial School in Tunbridge Wells has shown that a non-selective Christian school can offer an education which is as good as many selective schools. We are currently considering whether the school should have a sponsor. One possibility is a Christian Trust which sponsors academies and free schools. Many young people have long bus journeys to go to Secondary School. This tires the children, is bad for the environment and is set to cost parents increasing amounts of money as bus charges rise over the coming years".
The alternative proposal is aimed to tackle the shortage of grammar school places in the area, and in particular the absence of any grammar school provision in - Sevenoaks. This forces boys who qualify for and wish to attend grammar schools, but are not of 'super-selective' ability to travel to the oversubscribed Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, girls to Weald of Kent in Tonbridge. Many other children who do not pass the Kent test first time round, but would win a grammar school on appeal in any other part of Kent do not succeed at appeal.
The organisers see the proposal as one that: Admits boys and girls from Year 7 (age 11); is located on the vacant Wildernesse site; is operating from September 2013; and uses a catchment area based, non-super selective, admissions policy. This means a catchment area that covers Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages, with every child passing the 11 plus exam from within the catchment area being admitted to the school. Also, if after catering for the children within the catchment area any spare places remain, then the highest achieving children who pass the 11 plus exam from outside the area will be admitted. You will find their website here. Sponsors provide additional information by email, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The law relating to this is complex, and has recently changed: New grammar school provision cannot be a distinct school, but would need to be an annexe of one or more existing schools; it must have the same the same ethos as the host schools - this means for a mixed school it would need to be sponsored by both a boys' grammar school and a girls' grammar school (the nearest mixed grammar school is in Canterbury!) - also it could not be 'super selective' unless the sponsors were two 'super-selective' schools.
There are by my calculation 12 grammar schools within 15 miles who could be involved. The main argument by the sponsors is that there is no grammar school in Sevenoaks, over a thousand local children travel to schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, and so there is the potential demand to fill an new school (annex). Whilst this argument is flawed, as many of those children attend super selective schools by choice and their successors are unlikely to be swayed by an annexe recruiting at basic grammar school level in an old non-selective school building, there is no doubt that many will be attracted by the local school concept. Whether enough will do so to fill a school is impossible to determine until there is an approved project on the table.
Kent County Council will be debating the issue on 29th March. The political pressure is likely to be on for the grammar school proposal, but it would be more complex and will take time to develop. Of course, there is no imperative for either proposal to go forward and, at a time of financial pressure, there must be an attraction in selling such a prime site for development.