A HEADTEACHER says Buckinghamshire ‘no longer has a fully selective education system’ after a government adjudicator ruled an academy’s new admissions policy was fair.

The Schools Adjudicator’s decision to throw out objections about Highcrest Academy’s "groundbreaking" admissions policy could prove to be a "real challenge" to the selective system and the 11+.

Highcrest principal Shena Moynihan now believes her academy’s trailblazing new system could open the floodgates for upper schools and academies around the county to become their own admissions authority.

But Buckinghamshire County Council - which, along with 11 secondary and three primary schools, objected to Highcrest’s new policy - stated the 11+ selective process is not under threat from the adjudicator’s ruling.

 

 

Miss Moynihan said: "It’s a complete victory for us, it is momentous, as we are now legally an all ability academy and it means Bucks ceases to be a fully selective system.

"Now all families have a choice, they don’t have to split their children up they can send them all here in the knowledge their children can be stretched, not just in the classroom, but also within a peer group, it’s a true choice.

 

"It’s a system that doesn’t rely on the 11+, it doesn’t depend on selection. We are not a grammar school, we are not an upper school, we are something different, so it means the local authority is not fully selective anymore.

"And I’m sure there will be other upper school in the county looking at this with interest at what happens. We might look in ten years and be the first and only all-ability school in Bucks - but I would doubt it."

The next two years will be crucial to the success of the new admissions policy and what threat the change could pose to grammar schools, Miss Moynihan said, pointing to the progression the academy has made over the last ten years.

Highcrest has transformed from a failing school to an oversubscribed ‘outstanding’ academy in the last decade, but the initial ‘good’ rating from OFSTED in 2003 was the turning point for the Hatters Lane-based school.

Miss Moynihan added: "I see this being the same; I think we have a two year window, it won’t explode overnight, it will grow.

"We know we have to work hard to make it succeed, Bucks is lucky as it has excellent schools so it’s not a case of we think everyone will come to us. We are something different and we have to prove we will produce the goods for these children, our history shows we can.

"I think that [after two years] will be the point where there could be a real challenge to grammar schools in this area."

 

In a statement, BCC said it was disappointed with the adjudicator’s decision but believes it does not change the education landscape in the county.

It added: "The council has a responsibility, as champion of Buckinghamshire children, to ensure that a fair and equitable admissions process exists for all children and young people.

"The Adjudicator's decision on Highcrest will not affect the existing 11+ selective processes and arrangements across Buckinghamshire."

Highcrest’s vice principal Ian Newton said it made the change for the good of its pupils and the Totteridge area after feedback from parents, coupled with the "unfairness" of the selective system and the old catchment.

 

 

He said: "We would take any child now but for the families in the position of one child ‘grammar qualified’ and another child that isn’t, do they separate them?

"It is a huge decision to send a grammar qualified child to an upper school. There’s huge pressure on them to go to a grammar school.

"But to send your child to a place where there is a Band A and a group of maybe 30-35 children of similar ability, it gives parents more confidence and a real choice as it’s not a real choice the way it [11+] is set up."

Click on the links to read about the Schools Adjudicator's ruling and Highcrest's new admissions policy.