'RETROGRADE and dangerous' plans to bring grammar schools back to Oxfordshire have been slammed in a letter sent by county headteachers to the Prime Minister and Education Secretary.

The letter, seen exclusively by the Oxford Mail, said selective schools would damage the county's economy, leave some children behind and damage social mobility.

Kate Curtis, headteacher of Theresa May's old school Wheatley Park, is among its signatories, along with 31 other headteachers and five chief executives of multi academy trusts.

The letter reads: "We write to you today to express our strong opposition to the government's proposal to expand selective education.

"We urge you to withdraw this wholly misplaced, retrograde and dangerous plan which is supported neither by hard evidence nor the teaching profession itself.

"The grammar school proposal is one which we wholeheartedly reject.

"Comprehensive schools currently deliver excellent and improving standards for young people despite the increasing pressures and financial constraints upon them."

The headteachers said selective schools would not provide the highly-skilled workers Oxfordshire's economy needs.

They also said the issue was distracting from the real challenges faced by schools, such as recruiting and retaining good teachers.

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Theresa May (right) looks on as she loses a mock general election at Holton Park Girls' Grammar School in 1974.

Ms Curtis said: "There is a risk of a left-behind generation if we are not careful.

"For our economy and society well-funded education in all ability schools is most advantageous.

"I think the Government will listen. People in the Government looking at education policy are very serious about doing the best for children.

"I think Mrs May knows my position. It is not a personal point about her or Justine Greening.

"I am sure we all want the same thing, we just disagree about how to go about it."

In the summer Mrs May said she wanted to lift the ban on new grammar schools being created, which has been in place since 1998.

A Government consultation on the proposals closes on Monday.

But the letter states that the schools could lead to 'division, privilege and inequality'.

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Didcot Girls' School headteacher Rachael Warwick (pictured), was among the headteachers who signed it.

She said: "Whatever test is dreamt up to test children at 11, the fundamental point remains that children develop at different ages and stages

"For every grammar school 'success story' there are countless counter stories which are never heard or shared in the media

"Instead of tinkering, once more, with structural reform, the government would be better advised to direct its energies towards reversing the teacher recruitment crisis and funding schools at an acceptable level.

"If this does not happen, grammar schools or no, the school system we are building for the future will fall well short of ever being world-class, and we run the risk of failing a new generation of young people."

Once the consultation has closed the responses will be examined by civil servants and ministers before they decide how to proceed.

National Union of Teachers Oxfordshire spokesman Gawain Little said: "This letter shows the strength of feeling.

"These headteachers are the people who have been asked if they would like to go selective and they are saying they would not.

"It makes me very proud of our headteachers that they have put their heads above the parapet and taken this stance."

Department for Education spokeswoman Juliet Kirk said: "We know grammar schools provide a good education for their disadvantaged pupils and we want more pupils from lower income backgrounds to benefit from that.

"Our proposals are about creating more good school places in more communities by ensuring that new and existing selective schools prioritise the admission of disadvantaged pupils and requiring them to support other local pupils in non-selective schools to help drive up educational outcomes across the school system."