A Westcliff grammar school has become the borough’s first to announce expansion plans in the wake of controversial selective school expansion funding.

Westcliff High School for Girls (WHSG), in Kenilworth Gardens, released a consultation letter to parents on Friday June 29, asking them to return their views on expanding the 2020 year seven intake by 30 pupils and changing the admissions criteria to give priority to the most disadvantaged pupils.

The consultation forms part of the application process set out by the government for the Selective Schools Expansion Fund (SSEF), a £50 million fund announced in May which gives the 163 grammar schools across the country the opportunity to invest in new facilities to open up more spaces for some of the country’s brightest pupils.

WHSG headteacher Dr Paul Hayman, said: “This is about encouraging pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to have the confidence to apply. There has been a preconception that grammar schools are only for a certain type of person, but with this expansion we are hoping to break that idea down even further and engage with students who might not have considered a selective school before.”

SSEF received a mixed reception, with both educational and political figureheads speaking out against the government’s funding boost for selective schools at a time when comprehensive schools have struggled with recruitment and resources.

However, the government has claimed more pupils and parents will be given increased choice.

The school is consistently oversubscribed with more than 900 applications for 184 places each year. However as with Southend’s three other grammar schools, many of these applications are received from outside of the borough.

WHSG does not currently prioritise disadvantaged pupils in its admissions criteria, however the governors have emphasised that they are keen to enable social mobility.

In order to achieve this, from 2020 the school have proposed a change to their admissions criteria, reserving the first 15 places for pupils who are classed as ‘Pupil Premium’ during Year Six and score highly in the 11 plus. Pupil Premium refers to pupils whose schools are in receipt of extra government funding to help the disadvantaged child ‘close the gap’ between them and their peers.

In order to ensure the greatest chance of securing the funding, grammar schools must justify the ways in which they will engage in outreach to target disadvantaged pupils form nearby primary schools.

If the school is successful, funding will be focused on increasing outreach, converting temporary learning spaces into new facilities, and gradually employing more staff as the number of pupils increases.

Dr Hayman said: “We really hope that parents will support the proposals.

“We are aware that they will want to ensure that their children are still receiving the highest quality education possible we are confident that with funding we will be able to maintain our high standards whilst also opening up the school to new pupils.”

The outcome of the application will be announced by the end of November 2018.