Revamp delight for St Aldhelm’s (From Bournemouth Echo)

Revamp delight for St Aldhelm’s

10:21am Wednesday 25th July 2012 in Opinion

There’s some good news for local students on the horizon.

St Aldhelm’s Academy in Poole is set for a £9.8m revamp. Some of the buildings on site date back to the 1930s and are in a poor state of repair.

Cllr Phil Eades, chairman of the planning committee, said the proposals were “innovative and novel”.

The new facilities should be ready to use by spring 2014.

And Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns should also be applauded for putting forward a welcome idea. He wants grammar school tests to be held in selected primary schools to encourage more pupils from deprived backgrounds to apply.

At the moment the entrance exams are held in the grammar schools.

He believes this deters many bright youngsters from under-privileged backgrounds from taking part in the process. All in all, it might not yet be a level playing field, but it goes some way in helping.