THE Ramsgate School in Thanet shares the position as the worst performing school in the country for the second year running according to league tables produced by the Government. Its performance is in stark contrast to the town’s two grammar schools, Chatham House and Clarendon House, which are placed first and second respectively in Kent. Dane Court Grammar at Broadstairs is sixth best in the county. All three are well placed nationally.

Ramsgate School head teacher Gwen Porteous is upbeat about the future of the secondary modern and says that the tables do not tell the real story behind the school. She said: “People do notice the tables and none of the staff take any pleasure from the school’s position because it does not make good reading.

“But take a walk around the school and you can see and feel the tangible improvements in spirit, attitude and determination that is evolving every day. We are making very real inroads into the lives of our children and we are beginning to make a difference.”

South Thanet MP Stephen Ladyman said that the Ramsgate School was “far from the worst school in Britain". He said it was "forced to work within the worst system of selective education that damns schools like this.”

He is demanding an independent inquiry and parental ballot into selective education in Kent and wants Government ministers to visit Ramsgate to see the situation first hand and “stop passing the buck.”

The MP stressed: "Wealthy children are self-selected into independent schools; the brightest children go to grammar schools; those from middle class areas then get selected by postcode for schools like Charles Dickens at Broadstairs; and the remainder, including those with the most problems, get sent to the Ramsgate School.

“The school can never shine in the league tables and we can never give children a decent education when we teach them in an environment without positive role models or sufficient bright pupils to generate an atmosphere of achievement. It is time to scrap selection and create decent, quality comprehensive schools that give everyone a fair chance. If we are serious about giving every child a good start and serious about schools like the Ramsgate School, then we should order an inquiry into selection in Kent.”

Mrs Porteous added: “My staff are supportive and we are working terribly hard to change the legacy that the Ramsgate School carries. There is a real air of optimism about the place and parents who do venture in to visit us are pleasantly surprised at what they find.

“We are making it a brighter, more friendly place to be and we have increased our extra curricular activities greatly to offer our children skills that they will really need when they leave school. As well as the core academic subjects we are teaching them life skills, self esteem, social responsibility - things that children from a socially deprived area need far more than most.”

Mrs Porteous says that the Ramsgate School’s position in the league tables may change. She said: “We are querying some of the results because some of the GCSE papers were not marked when they were calibrated, and our GNVQ results were only completed last week. The league tables do not take into account all the factors governing a school like ours. Getting children to come to school in the first place is a real achievement. Truancies and school refusers still count in the tables."