Headteacher defends arrange for 100 % free ‘Etons of the northern’ sixth forms
Oldham council leader Arooj Shah and you can Eton headteacher Simon Henderson. Shah known as step ‘an excellent gamechanger’. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The brand new Guardian
Oldham council leader Arooj Shah and you may Eton headteacher Simon Henderson. Shah called the effort ‘a great gamechanger’. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The fresh Guardian
The new headteacher off Eton college or university has said its intends to unlock three “Etons of your own northern” for the deprived areas of England won’t “solution from the brilliant kids” away from local schools, in the middle of question away from teachers.
The fresh earth’s most famous private school try likely to unlock totally free elite selective sixth-mode colleges inside the Oldham, Dudley and you may Middlesbrough by the 2025 in partnership with Superstar Academies.
The fresh new announcement has been confronted with a combination of joy regarding local frontrunners and consternation regarding specific headteachers. One to told you teachers was indeed “troubled and you can frustrated” if you’re various other asked the necessity for a whole lot more supply at the big date when colleges are being matched.
Simon Henderson, Eton’s headteacher, told you the new sixth-models – which would for each and every recognize 240 children per year – would “improve standards for everybody” and you may personal the brand new gap ranging from youngsters who do better from the GCSEs however, don’t achieve solid An excellent-accounts.
He told you: “Particular experts state ‘really, you will be merely creaming off of the bright babies – these types of infants were gonna do well anyway’. The data implies that isn’t in reality true.
“Develop you to definitely some of the commitment performs we’ll do with the eleven-to-16 universities in the area can benefit most of the pupils when it comes to those universities, besides the ones that end up coming to [Eton-Star’s] colleges.”