Abbey Grammar vows to ‘phase out’ academic selection

The Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School in Newry has said it backs plans by the Catholic church to phase out academic selection for 11 year olds.

The Abbey, which is part of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, is one of the first grammar schools in the country to back the bishop’s June 21st call for a gradual phasing out of academic selection. Under Cardinal Sean Brady’s plans, Catholic grammar schools are being asked to admit at least one out of every four pupils without having to sit the Post Primary Transfer Consortium’s GL Assessment test.

Speaking on behalf of the Newry school, a spokesman from the Edmund Rice Schools Trust said in a statement,“We are fully supportive of the policy of the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education (NICCE) that academic selection at 11 years of age be phased out over a limited period, with appropriate evaluation and monitoring of the impact as the process moves forward. We welcome the statement of the Northern Catholic Bishops setting out clearly their collective stance in relation to the ending of academic selection at this early age.

“The Edmund Rice Trustees have recognised the concerns expressed by governors of grammar schools about the implementation of the policy, and we believe that the latest NICCE proposal is a reasonable response to these concerns. Specifically, we support the proposal that all grammar schools move away from the use of academic selection for 100% of enrollments to a maximum of 75% of enrollments in time for the school intakes in 2014.”

The spokesman added, “The Edmund Rice Trustees will work with school governors and with other trustees in each local area to facilitate this first phase of transition.”

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