Grammar School Expansion - Good or Bad.

In 1998, Labour passed laws banning the creation of new grammars - selective state schools - but allowing existing schools to expand if there is sufficient demand.

In my opinion this heralded the decline in education standards.

No longer were children streamed by ability, the era of the non-competitive-everyone's-a-winner had arrived.

Brighter children were, and likely still are, ignored, the badly behaved were allowed to disrupt classes and the teachers focused on the middle ground.

England is now due to have its first new Grammar for 50 years after an existing school is to be allowed to open an annexe on a new site in Kent

There are some very good Secondary Modern schools out there, but I can only think that allowing the brighter children to attend grammar schools can only benefit the country as a whole.

I know that in previous posts I have bemoaned the fact that I spent 6 years at an Independent Grammar, assuming that I would have turned out differently had I gone to a Comprehensive, but my home life would have been the same so I probably would have still been the miserable so-and-so that I am now.

Let the naturally bright and the children with the desire to do well attend the new Grammars.  Let them excel and stop holding them back!