When Richard Midgley's daughter was moving up to secondary school in 2022 she applied to five places, but didn't get in any. The family, of Bowdon, later discovered they were just four metres outside the catchment zone for their first choice, North Cestrian in Altrincham.On Friday hundreds of thousands of kids across the country discovered where they'd be going to high school. It can be an extremely stressful time for both parents and children.
'You have to live in the playground to get a place' Last year 92 children from Sale and Altrincham didn't get a place at any of their preferred schools. They were all allocated places in either Partington, Lostock or Flixton, but depending on their home address those schools can be more than an hour's journey away on public transport.
The high standards mean parents from across Greater Manchester and Cheshire go to great lengths to ensure their children are educated in Trafford. But that inevitably means there's less space for local children. "The grammar school system doesn't reflect the diversity of the area," said Lisa Waterhouse, of Bowdon, one of the organisers of a campaign to expand North Cestrian. "Parents are tutoring their kids to within an inch of their lives to get in and you've also got kids coming in from areas outside the borough.
'All grammar schools should be able to expand - politics is getting in the way' But not everyone agrees that the sharp-elbowed middle classes are to blame for increasing pressure on places. "Is it right that we're bussing in kids from outside the area? Probably not, but that's certainly not the real issue," says Oliver Carroll, the Conservative candidate for the General Election and an Altrincham Grammar old boy.
'Teachers can't afford to live here' But it's not just the demand from outside areas causing the pressures. James Starnes, a computer sciences teacher at Altrincham Girls School and district secretary for the Trafford branch of the NEU, says recruitment and retention of teaching staff is also part of the problem - especially in areas like Hale, Sale and Altrincham.
Between 2020-21 Stretford grammar and both Altrincham boys and girls grammar schools increased their class sizes by a total of 460 pupils. Plans are also in the pipeline to increase Altrincham College by an extra 300 places from September 2025, while the council is also looking at the possibility of expanding both North Cestrian and Broadoak school in Partington.
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