Workshops or trial lessons at different ages should be used instead of the 11-plus to select pupils for a new kind of grammar school, an influential academy leader has claimed.
Adrian Packer, chief executive of Core Education Trust, which took over schools in Birmingham following the “Trojan horse” scandal, was previously a senior artistic director at the selective Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology in London, whose former pupils include Amy Winehouse (pictured) and Adele.
Writing in The Times today, he said that the Brit School’s aptitude assessment, used for selection instead of pure academic ability in a test, is a more inclusive approach. He argued that a child’s success wasn’t being “defined by whether they have passed or failed a once-in-a-lifetime test”.
He said that such an assessment determines whether there is a match between the child’s aptitude and the school, and those pupils who are not selected at 14 can try again aged 16. Mr Packer argued that, under these circumstances, pupils do not feel like a failure if they do not get in at their second attempt.
The introduction of new grammar schools is a flagship policy unveiled by Theresa May in her first speech on domestic policy as prime minister.
A three-month consultation on the controversial proposal closed on December 12.
‘Creative grammar schools’
Mr Packer wrote: “I envisage a system in which these types of schools become a new kind of grammar: a creative grammar school.
“There could be scope for other categories, such as technical grammar schools, where skills as diverse as engineering and sport are nurtured.
“They would be 100 per cent selective, specialising in high-quality standards and priding themselves on high levels of progression into the creative and technical industries, which are vital to our economy.”
Mr Packer said that his model could see children enter the school in Year 7, Year 10 and Year 12, and added: “Aptitude assessment-style selection would be customised, as it is at the Brit School, to ensure that ‘match’ is assessed through a workshop or trial lesson approach.”
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