The government has launched a new consultation on the future provision of grammar schools in this country. The purpose is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential through education, regardless of their wealth or personal circumstances.
We already benefit from grammar schools in Kent, and we can see that for those students that pass the entrance examination, they all do well. Selection is based on ability, rather than simply how close you live to the school. The social background of a student at a grammar school also has very little influence on the results of their GCSE and A -level exams. It is important as well that the opportunity for a grammar school education remains and that schools in Kent are allowed to expand to meet the demands of a growing population, so that the same proportion of places remain available.
We have also seen in the Shepway area that the old divide between grammar and other secondary schools no longer exists. The local Academy schools in Folkestone, New Romney and at Brockhill Park also provide an excellent education both for students looking to gain places at top universities, and those working for vocational and skills based qualifications. The opportunities that exist today for students in local schools are better than they have ever been. When the new Pent Valley schools opens in Folkestone in September 2018, this will further add to the quality and choice of places available.
Last Friday I joined members of the Fifth Trust charity at the Elham Valley Vineyard for the launch of their appeal to redevelop their Greenhills work centre site, near Barham. The Fifth Trust supports people with learning difficulties, working from its two sites in the Elham Valley. They provide facilities for their students to become involved with many different activities including carpentry, pottery, arts and crafts, and gardening. Many of the items they produce are also on sale at the Elham Valley Vineyard. The Fifth Trust is an excellent charity and it’s clear that their work is greatly appreciated. Their fundraising appeal is being led by another Elham resident, Pam Ferris, and you can find out more about the appeal and the Fifth Trust through their website www.fifthtrust.co.uk
This Sunday is Battle of Britain Sunday, where services are held across the country in memory of the airmen who fought and died in the skies above Kent, Surrey and Sussex in the summer of 1940. I will be attending the service at St Stephen’s church in Lympne, organised by the Royal Air Forces Association. The church is just a few hundred metres from the former Lympne airfield which play an important role in that vital battle, seventy-six years ago. It is right that we gather every year to remember that for those few weeks during the Second World War, the fate of the world was held in the hands of those courageous pilots.