A new grammar for the Kent coast?

[Mumlove3]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to read. This is my first post.

My DD will be going to secondary school in 2022 and I have a DS who is 3. We are due to make the move out of SE London to Whitstable/Canterbury for a new start and good school options. We would manage this by before the school deadlines, by buying/renovating in the area that we decide on and living with family until our DD finishes primary school in London. My DH will have to commute 4 days a week, but he feels it’s manageable. Any previous experience or advice here welcomed on this too.

My main concern is that I have heard rumours that a new satellite grammar is opening up in-between Whitstable and Herne bay, but having searched the internet, I can’t find any confirmation that it is 100% going ahead. My concern is what will this do for the current (from what I can tell) decent comprehensives near the Kent coast?

Secondly, although the school is said to be in-between these two towns, it is actually further towards Canterbury and planned on the old Chaucer school site. This still seems a lengthy journey for any students travelling from the Kent coast. Does anyone know whether the grammars come out to collect the students from these areas?

Any advice would be gratefully received, thank you in advance

I haven't heard of this but in my area of Kent the grammars often do link with a private coach company to provide coaches for out of area students - they are hugely expensive though more than getting a public bus.

Thank you for your reply. That's good to know - would be interesting to know how much it is too. I can imagine it is!

I haven't heard anything about a new school but the grammars most children from Herne bay etc currently go to are in Ramsgate and broadstairs and there is no transport provided - children get the train or bus.

We would manage this by before the school deadlines, by buying/renovating in the area that we decide on and living with family until our DD finishes primary school in London.

I know that your main query concerns the potential new / satellite grammar school in the area, but assuming that you will be applying for secondary schools from your Kent address, I would caution that applying for a school from an address where your DD isn't actually living during the school week (especially as the 'current primary school' named on the CAF will presumably be outside reasonable commuting distance?) may be a plan fraught with potential problems. I don't know about Kent CC, but the LAs (and own admission authority schools) with which I am familiar are very hot on investigating suspected address fraud.

@marchingfrogs

Thank you for your concern, but you have interpreted this incorrectly. My house would be legally ours in Kent and well before any date to apply to secondary school for my DD, we will be free to come and go from it as we please and will be living there. I was providing context to the situation as I was hoping others who may have made the move out to Kent after being in London could give advice.

You would in effect be using the Whitstable address as a holiday home. Your daughter needs a permanent address in Kent to apply for a Kent school

I would be surprised if the new Grammar was opened in time for you. However most people in that area happily travel to the Grammar schools in Canterbury or Faversham on public transport so that is not an issue.

Lastly Kent does not have comprehensives. If your child does not pass the Kent Test they will go to a non selective school. The top 25% achievers having been creamed off by the Grammar schools.

Also your DD will need to sit the Kent Test as an out of county candidates on a different day to Kent resident children who take it in their Kent primary schools during school time. It will be very obvious to KCC you are not resident in Kent.

An option for you would be to take the Kent Test from your current address and if DD passes you could appeal for a place after offer day in March as someone moving into the county. DC with Kent Test passes are very likely to win places on appeal. Most appeal cases are for DC who didn't pass.

There have been rumours of a coastal grammar school since I was at grammar school in the 80s!

The old Chaucer school is in Canterbury, right next to Barton Court Grammar.

Will your child be sitting the Kent Test as an out of county student then?

@boredorboard
Thank you for your reply. So far I have read that the new satellite is due to open for students in 2022, so this would apply to my family.

Even if they do open a new grammar, I can't imagine it will make any difference to the local schools. Nearly all children in Kent take the Kent test and go to one of the existing grammar schools if they pass it.

There aren't many that pass and choose to go to non-selective schools.

I admit to not having local knowledge on this one but would say that not all grammars are equal. I would be wary about sending my DC to any school without a record of achievement in terms of GCSEs and A Levels. Where are the teachers going to come from? Teaching posts in the Grammars are like gold dust and I can't see existing Grammar teachers queueing up to take the jobs.

If the new Grammar is actually going to be in Canterbury please choose Barton Court or Simon Langton instead. They both have excellent track records

Of course if this new Grammar opens on time (and chances are it won't) this will increase capacity in the area for you!

Do you have plans for if DD doesn't pass the Kent Test? Independent?

I would ask on the Kent board on the 11+ forum - some very clued up people there. I know the Sevenoaks boys grammar annex is on the cards for 2021 entry but there hasn't been anything on any others for a while.

There is already an excess of grammar places on the Kent coast. Grammar schools in Dover and Folkestone do not have enough local DCs who pass the Kent test to fill all the available places so they offer separate exams, the Shepway Test, instead. These are classed by Kent as areas of high deprivation and low aspiration.

These "selective" schools barely make the national average for A level results and are easily outperformed by decents comps in other boroughs. The top performing Kent grammar schools are all in the densely populated parts of the borough.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=886&la-name=kent&geographic=la&for=16to18&orderby=ks5.0.TALLPPE_ALEV_1618&orderdir=asc&page=1

I could well be wrong but I thought the new school on the Chaucer site was going to be a high school run by the same trust that run Barton Court . Anyhow as a pp said another grammar in the Herne bay / whitstable area will make no difference to the local high schools as at the moment the children just take the Kent test and bus / train to the grammars if they get in .

I'd move to Hants instead of Kent.

TeenPlusTwenties may have a point. The average A level score in England is 34.01. Kent is below the national average with 33.18 and Hampshire is well above with 35.20.

The old Chaucer site in right in Canterbury itself. The new school will be run by Barton Court Grammar School.

Children from the coast catch either the train to schools in Faversham (8 mins) or Ramsgate or the local bus to central Canterbury (20 mins) Parents pay for this.

That’s going from Whitstable

@teenplustwenties
Where is Hants?

BC is indeed the school that are planning the satellite grammar on the Chaucer site.
I was worried that another selective school could have an impact, but it's good to hear so many of you don't think it will. It's not all about results for me, more that the children are in a happy environment. That's all we want for any of our children of course I'm sure.

Thank you for your replies on travelling and distances too, really good to know.

Barton court are having a secondary school on the Chaucer site it is not going to be a grammar
The satellite grammar , if it ever goes ahead as there is a lot of opposition will be somewhere between / in Herne Bay / whitstable as the point of it is to stop the children from these areas having to commute to Canterbury or faversham to access a grammar place .

The new school run by BC will not be a grammar school.

@crawley65 and @floralnomad. Hands up I have completely mis-interpreted the fact that the new school (should it go ahead) won't be a "grammar".

Really pleased I posted on here. Thank you all for your help x

Mum Hants is Hampshire. eg Basingstoke, Winchester. It runs an all comprehensive system and many people commute by train into London.

Thank you! I'll have a look into the area also