She said existing grammars to expand, and new ones could be created, and the reforms would stop the wealthy choosing their children’s school by buying a house near it.
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Five councils have already drawn up plans to open new grammar schools just days after Theresa May announced her intention to lift the 18-year ban on new selective schools.
Sir Peter Lampl, of education think-tank the Sutton Trust, told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “The problem with grammar schools is that they are highly socially selective”.
The plans will also include the ability for bright children to join grammar schools, not just at 11, but at 14 and 16 as well.
Government proposals to give every school in England the chance to become a grammar school “can only be counter-productive”, according to Rev Steve Chalke.
In responding to an urgent question on the issue in parliament today, the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, said: “We do think selection can play a role”.
“I went to a grammar school, and it certainly wasn’t for me”, she said.
However, Mrs May’s policy announcement is also a gamble on a fight with teachers and the educational establishment, who firmly believe the benefits of grammar schools were outweighed by the lack of educational attainment in secondary modern schools.
The policy as been introduced by the King Edward VI Foundation, which runs five grammar schools in Birmingham – King Edward VI Aston, King Edward VI Handsworth Girls, King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys, King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls and King Edward VI Five Ways.
A leaked document from Downing Street has shown Prime Minister Theresa May’s new government is pushing for more selective state schools to be opened across the country, ‘albeit with various conditions’.
May added: “People get lost in the argument about whether the grammars schools of the 1950s and 60s improved social mobility or not. If that is what is being talked about, it will not provide a social mobility dividend, it will be a social mobility disaster”.
Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, said the idea that poor children would benefit from a return of grammar schools was “nonsense”.
“We want all schools to be outstanding in our borough, we have recently invested over £30million into our secondary school estate and we continue to support all schools in delivering their plans to secure outstanding education, particularly for those from disadvantaged family backgrounds. At a time when we should be moving to greater community cohesion and breaking down the barriers, this in my view is completely wrong to be going in a direction of putting those barriers back up and bringing in segregation by the religion of children’s parents”.
Meanwhile, Lib Dem education spokesperson John Pugh said: “There is no such thing as inclusive grammar schools”.
“For too long we have tolerated a system that contains an arbitrary rule preventing selective schools from being established – sacrificing children’s potential because of dogma and ideology”.
Under the legislation, which faces a tough battle to get past the Commons and House of Lords, any schools converting into grammars will need to reserve some places for pupils from poorer backgrounds.
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“We support our members in all our schools as they do an absolutely fantastic job and we must make sure that our children are not labelled as failures from an early age”.
