STRANGE days in Ripon where that pitched battle is in full swing to save the town’s grammar school. It’s strange enough to hear the selectionistas bray that Blunkett and Blair are determined to send grammar schools to the wall. That’ll give a giggle to anyone who’s read the regulations.
Stranger still is the fact that Ripon College, the secondary mod which takes the grammar school’s letovers, is arm-in-arm with its selective neighbour.
But perhaps strangest of all is the fact that said college has just been given specialist school status, creating the intriguing possibility that just as the grammar school goes comprehensive, the college could, in theory, start selecting.
Strictly on aptitude, of course (whatever that is), and only up to 10 per cent.
