Schools Update

Two things to mention:

1. Alan Johnson today published updated guideleines on selection. Whilst for some they don't go far enough, they nevertheless tighten existing rules and will generally benefit the 70% of Sutton children who don't go to Grammar or church schools by creating a more level playing field, with bans on first preference only, similar institution only, interviews of pupils and financial contributions. However I suspect the recommendation for Fair Banding will not be taken up in Sutton as Overton Grange parents are likely to protest about it as they did last time, costing John Dodwell his Strategy Committee membership at the time.

2. The anouncement of local aurthorities in Birmingham and ">Manchester sponsoring Academies, will make this policy more acceptable than it was in the past. In Sutton whilst Stanley Park is opposed and I assume Carrshalton Sports College won't want to go down that direction either, I wonder whether in order to achieve the 400 target, whether a school like Glenthorne will eventually seek to work with the local authority on a project like this.