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TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS UNVEIL NEW PRESIDENT Page 2
TEAMS MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP OF THE RIVER A TOTAL of nearly half a tonne of rubbish and 15 trolleys were collected by a team of volunteers in a clean-up operation of the River Medway. The Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council organised event was part of the Love Kent Hate Litter and LitterGram campaigns aiming to improve the area’s environment. As previously reported, the river has been blighted by incidents of dumped trolleys along sections of the river Medway in Tonbridge. The rubbish is a danger to people using the river for pleasure and also raises the fear of flooding. Tonbridge Flood Wardens were joined by ten volunteers from Tonbridge Canoe Club who paddled the river at Strawberry Vale, Ashby’s Point, The Botany and Bewley’s Weir to clear litter debris. Organised clean-ups on the River Medway in the past year have produced improvements to the environment in and around the river.
CLEAN OUT Canoe club members helped remove rubbish
WHY HADLOW COLLEGE DESPERATELY NEEDS YOUR PET DOG Page 6
MP TOM TUGENDHAT SPEAKS ON IRAQ INQUIRY Page 3
40 PAGES OF THE FINEST PROPERTIES ON THE MARKET
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Call for an end to ‘unfair’ INSIDE 11 plus entrance exam… LOCAL HERO
Epic hospice charity challenge completed. Page 2
Hundreds of ‘failed’ pupils taken into county grammar schools By Andrew Tong
newsdesk@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A QUARTER of pupils accepted into Kent grammar schools have failed the normal 11 plus entry exam. That’s the claim of an education campaign group that is now pressing for the abolition of the Kent Test. The Kent Education Network (KEN) is opposed to the selection system because they say it creates inequality and a two-tier system in schools across the county – and especially in west Kent – which leads to them falling short of government targets. KEN has called for the county’s education authorities to scrap the 11 plus in order to bridge this ‘unacceptable social divide’. The group was set up in January in response to plans for establishing an ‘annexe’ in Sevenoaks to the Weald of Kent grammar school in Tonbridge – which has particularly strong provision for grammar schools with The Judd and Tonbridge Grammar also in the town. KEN spokesman James Parish said: “It is fundamentally unfair that some children who fail the test get a ‘second chance’ while others do not. “Some primary schools routinely recommend 90 per cent of their ‘failed’ pupils for a result reassessment, while others recommend no children at all. “The Head Teacher Assessment process only highlights the inadequacies of the Test itself. It costs KCC £348,000 a year to commission the Test, but they choose to select seven per cent of grammar school children another way.” He also claimed: “Kent has more schools
GREAT SUCCESS Pupils at Tonbridge Grammar celebrate ‘best ever’ exam results
SUMMER TIMES
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VERDICT LOOMS failing to reach government targets than any other county.” The questioning of the selection methods comes as a response to a report by Kent County Council’s Commission for Social Mobility.
‘Kent has more schools failing to reach government targets’ KEN explained that while 28 per cent of the county’s students attend grammar schools, seven per cent of those are nominated by head teachers despite failing the exam, or by parents appealing against a result. The KCC commission concluded that access to grammar schools ‘is not solely based on academic ability but is impacted by family income’. Its finding is in line with current concerns that richer parents are able to pay for tutors
to ensure their children pass the examination and avoid going to failing schools. “The commission does not face up to the problem of widespread coaching,” Mr Parish added. “While independent schools are permitted to train children in taking the test, coaching is forbidden in state schools. KEN controversially describes the education system in Kent as ‘a discriminatory form of social engineering’. It claims: “The reason why many schools fail is because they must compete with selective grammar schools, reducing the average success rate of students overall. “Kent students are less likely to achieve three A-Levels than children of other counties, and 55 per cent of our poorest pupils get GCSE results in the bottom 20 per cent nationally.” KCC were invited to comment but had not done so by the time the newspaper went to print last night.
Gatwick decision expected within weeks. Page 4
FAMILY GPS RATED How good or not is your doctor’s surgery? Page 10