THE announcement that Ilkley Grammar has won 'Specialist' status is not just good news for the school, it is a bonus for the whole town. As part of its new status the school will have to forge closer links with the surrounding community which can only benefit all concerned.

But it is the pupils who will get the most benefit with the already impressive standards set to be lifted to even more dizzy heights. Some might argue that schools should be adequately funded in the first place to achieve the best, rather than having to bid for extra cash.

Adequate resources routinely supplied would let teachers get on with the job of teaching instead of being forced to become marketing, management and promotion consultants in the extra funding lottery. No-one has yet made a convincing case for the seemingly irresistible Government drive to force public services into the ideological straightjacket of big business where marketing, bidding and competition belong.

Of course schools should have to prove that they are efficient and would not waste any extra money provided but perhaps the criteria for awarding grants could be more closely related to academic, rather than business, achievements. But this is a problem for the society as a whole - not just Ilkley Grammar School. Staff have been forced to go down this road and they have proved they are more than capable of excelling outside their own sphere of operation.

The granting of 'Specialist School' status is a credit to all the hard work of everyone connected with Ilkley Grammar from the head, staff, pupils, governors and parents. The benefits will gradually become clear once the cash is turned into better teaching resources across the whole curriculum, not just the narrow confines of English, science and maths.

Everyone connected with the school deserves a big pat on the back.