MORE girls will get a grammar school education when Bournemouth School for Girls increases its intake next year.

From September 2019 the prestigious school will offer 180 places each year in a bid to help Bournemouth council address the issue of overcrowding in secondary schools.

Now head teacher Alistair Brien is putting together a bid to the government's Selective Schools Expansion Fund to improve facilities for both new and current students.

He hopes to gain funding to refurbish the gym and provide additional Design and Technology space as well as a fitness suite and dance studio.

Mr Brien also aims to further encourage pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend the Castle Gate Close school.

The school, which celebrates its centenary this year, moved to its present site in 1960 and was designed to accommodate 800 pupils. It currently has 1,100 students and offers 166 places per year.

"We are now starting to burst at the seams" said Mr Brien. "Former pupils joining us for our centenary reunion next month will see no difference in our current gymnasium from when they were at school."

Mr Brien said the school already has close links with primary schools in the area but aims to do more to reassure parents and children that the grammar school is accessible to all.

This year, 87 per cent of the intake will come from state schools with just 17 per cent joining the school from the private sector.

"We want to raise aspirations and dispel prejudices because many people believe that grammar schools are elitist and they're not" added Mr Brien.

He said the first 130 places each year will be offered to the pupils with the highest test scores. The remainder will be given to those who pass the test with highest scores from specific post code areas roughly covering Bournemouth, part of Christchurch and the Talbot Village area.

"I was the first member of my family to go to university from grammar school and am therefore only too well aware of the opportunities that it has given me" added Mr Brien.

"We already work closely with a number of primary schools but I am sure there is more that we could do. The task is to work out what new initiatives could have real and lasting impact."

Consultation is currently under way and is available at bsg.bournemouth.sch.uk/