EAST Lancashire school leaders have said that it would be a ‘step back’ for the region if new grammar schools are opened.

A number of grammar schools are reportedly being planned across England after the government gave the go-ahead to the first new selective school in 50 years.

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A grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, has been given the green light to open an annexe catering to about 450 pupils at a site around seven miles away from its site in Sevenoaks.

Head teachers and union leaders have come together to speak out against the schools coming to East Lancashire.

Xavier Bowers, head teacher at Mount Carmel RC High School in Accrington, said: “These schools do not help the community cohesion in the area as they are by their very nature selective.

“They want the brightest students in the area to go there but an important part of school is having people from all areas of the community in the same class.

“That is a great thing about the comprehensive system and I do not think that many head teachers in East Lancashire will be calling for more grammar schools here.”

“It would not be a step forward and it would possibly be a step backwards.”

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in the Ribble Valley is one of the few left in the region, with Queen Elizabeth Grammar School becoming a free school in 2014.

Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School in Waterfoot has entrance exams but has a non-selective sixth form.

Labour passed laws in 1998 banning the creation of new grammars – which are selective state schools – but Weald of Kent school’s plan was approved because existing schools are allowed to expand if there is sufficient demand.

Simon Jones, who represents the National Union of Teachers in East Lancashire, said: “This has created an education market place where the most disadvantaged young people are those most likely to lose out.”