Sevenoaks Grammar School satellite: partner announced

The campaign for a grammar school satellite in Sevenoaks has taken a further step forward. Kent County Council has announced this morning that it is working with Valley Invicta Academies Trust to establish a satellite of Invicta Grammar School in Sevenoaks. A proposal will be sent to Education Secretary Michael Gove by the start of next week.

KCC made clear earlier this year (see post of 9 January) that it favoured the former Wildernesse School site for a Sevenoaks grammar school satellite. Last week saw a lot of publicity - and concern on the part of supporters of the grammar school satellite - following a letter from Lord Nash, Under-Secretary in the Department of Education, indicating the government's apparent wish to allocate the site for the Trinity Free School. However, KCC made clear its commitment to the grammar school satellite being on the site once it is vacated by the Knole Academy, and the legal basis for the government's proposal was strongly disputed. (You can find a very balanced treatment of the story by the Chronicle here).

I have long favoured a grammar school satellite in Sevenoaks; last year I seconded the County Council motion supporting its establishment, and I have continud to campaign for it. The growing pressure on grammar school places in West Kent, which will only increase in the next few years, is a powerful argument for it. So are the long journeys that Sevenoaks children as young as eleven have to make each day. In the last week, many constituents have expressed their concern and their anger at the thought that the satellite might be stopped.

The announcement that a high-performing grammar school is committing to the Sevenoaks satellite is very good news indeed.

You can find a full account on the Sevenoaks Grammar School Campaign website here.