Martin Pearman: Our grammar school has much to teach the country '“ and Theresa May

Amid all the arguments over privilege, fairness, opportunity and choice, Ripon surely stands as a model of secondary education that works, and works for all.

The city has two state secondary schools – my own, Ripon Grammar School, and Outwood Academy. Both have been judged by Ofsted to be outstanding. Geographically, we lie across the road from one another; symbolically, we represent educational opportunity at its best. Whichever street you live on in Ripon, whatever your background, whatever your academic ability, you can go to an outstanding school.

The more academically able children who pass the entrance test – 28 per cent of our cohort are chosen for their academic potential – can join the grammar school. Since the alternative is also an outstanding school, it does not mean that your educational opportunities in Ripon are any less; you are not “consigned to a sink school” as many would have us believe.

There is no doubt that grammar schools remain popular with parents. Support for the system we have was unequivocal in a ballot in 2000 that saw 67 per cent of parents vote in favour of keeping the grammar school. Judging by the turnout at our entrance test on Saturday, that popularity remains undiminished.

Grammar school is not for everyone. Standards and expectations are high – Ripon Grammar School has been the highest performing school in Yorkshire in recent years, not just on academic results but importantly for the value we add to pupils’ attainment. Our children work very hard and they have high aspirations, but children are not all the same. They all have different skills, talents, interests, ambitions and aptitudes for different things. Some will thrive in an academic environment, some will not. Some will aspire to the best universities; others are happier leaving at 16 to take up an apprenticeship. As long as every child can fulfil their potential, society needs this diversity, and young people need choice.

While I understand the theory that taking a test and not achieving the required mark may, in some families, be allowed to be seen as failure, it is not the general rule in my experience. In any event, late developers have a second chance to get into the grammar school in Year 9 and again at Sixth Form. Boarding, too, provides an answer for those children who live in remote areas poorly served by public transport but who are eligible to attend the grammar school.

We have an eclectic mix of education in this country, from comprehensives to free schools to academies. Grammar schools are part of that provision and I am pleased that the Prime Minister has acknowledged that we have a part to play.

My personal view is that a comprehensive system in Ripon would be inferior to the grammar school and academy system that we have and would actually reduce our children’s opportunities and life chances.

The more informed debate about grammar schools has not been about whether we should have more of them or not, it’s been about access. It is clear that some grammar schools, particularly in the south of England, are super-selective and draw on a very wide area to recruit very bright students.

Here again, Ripon has the answer. We are relatively unusual in being a grammar school with a defined catchment; first and foremost, Ripon Grammar is a local school for the children of the city and the surrounding villages.

Our admissions policy means we give priority to pupils of grammar school ability within the catchment; places will go to them over children who achieve even higher in the entrance test but live out of area.

We have students who come from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds, and our proportion of children qualifying for free school meals mirrors that of the local community.

By removing a catchment area, schools can increase academic selectivity and end up with a higher proportion of academically able students, which means their results will be greatly enhanced. For schools chasing places for a position in the league tables, this strategy works extremely well.

My belief is that grammar schools should not be doing this and should serve primarily their local community and reflect the socio-economic make-up of that community, thereby giving the opportunity of a grammar school education to students in the local area.

In the 1960s, grammar schools were 
in places of deprivation and were a 
route out of disadvantage for more children, myself included. I was the kid from the North London council estate who got to grammar school and it certainly made a huge difference to my life, as I’m sure it did for our Prime Minister.

I have written to Theresa May this week to say I am pleased that she has taken the brave decision to propose an increase in selection to improve the life chances of disadvantaged young people. I am totally in favour of her goal of giving more opportunities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and I believe that grammar schools can aid social mobility in this country.

Martin Pearman is headmaster of Ripon Grammar School.