Under the "three-tier" proposals for the reorganisation of Education in Ealing, submitted to the Department of Education and Science by the Borough Council, Drayton Manor would become, over a period of years, a Comprehensive High School for the age range 12-19. Decisions on these proposals are expected shortly and may be available by the time that this edition of Phoenix is read. If the Secretary of State approves what is termed a "Significant expansion" for Drayton Manor, the total number of pupils here will rise eventually to about 1200 and a major building programme will first be undertaken by the Borough to provide the extra accommodation and facilities which will be needed for a school of that size.

Whatever the decision - and it is not possible or appropriate for predictions to be made here - there will not be any sudden or immediate change in the character and size of the school. If the scheme is approved and comes into operation, transfer to secondary education at age 11 will cease and the High Schools, including Drayton Manor, will have no more 1st form pupils. Instead we shall take, a year later, into the 2nd forms a much larger group of pupils who will not have undergone the present 11+ procedure. This entry of between 180 and 240 pupils aged 12+ will continue each year and the school will gradually grow until the number on roll reaches 1200 in about 1978-9.

Throughout this period the education of pupils admitted to the school in or before 1972 will continue on the lines indicated and expected at the time of their entry. Any changes that there may be will be those arising from the normal process of curriculum development, or from the provision of additional facilities in the major building programmes mentioned above, or from possible changes in the national examinations system which are under consideration by the various bodies which organise and supervise the G. C. E. and C.S. E. examinations.

A brief account cannot cover all the details of such a change, but it should be clear from what has been said that while the reorganisation proposals, if approved, will double the size and modify the character of the school in the long run, far reaching changes are not expected in the immediate future.