Either Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Education, is remarkably well informed about those who were educated at Brigg Grammar School prior to its demise in the mid-1970s, or she's merely copied us in as part of a very wide sweep of folk across the country.
The Minister says: "Grammar schools are popular with parents, and provide stretching education for the most academically able, regardless of their background. We know that grammar schools can help close the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their better off classmates. But since 1998 there has been a ban on opening new, selective state schools. This makes it harder to get the good new school places we need, and harder for children whose parents cannot afford to move house or go private to benefit from the most stretching academic education.
"So we will lift the ban on new grammar schools and allow them to open where parents want them. We will have strict conditions to make sure they improve the education of pupils in every other part of the system. And we will encourage more people, schools and institutions with something to offer, to come forward and help deliver more good school places.
"This is just the start of our vision to build an education system that works for everyone, Nigel, and you can be a part of it by showing your support today."
We thank her for the invitation to state a view but have decided not to reply.
Our picture montage gives a flavour of life at Brigg Grammar School in the late 1960s, while we were attending the seat of learning founded in 1669. We had left by the time things went comprehensive, the 11+ exam was scrapped and Sir John Nelthorpe School was created. Clockwise, starting top left: A discussion between French master Vernon Atkin and maths master Harrry Stinson; headmaster H. B. Williams tending his garden; leaving the cricket pavilion to open the innings; first year boys being escorted down the drive towards Grammar School Road.
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