Proposed Changes
The Review of Secondary School Admissions Arrangements in Brighton & Hove is proposing significant changes to the admissions system for both Dorothy Stringer and Blatchington Mill.
A number of issues have been examined, with possible changes under three headings:
- Changes to the preference system
Currently parents select a 1st, 2nd and 3rd school preference, and parents who have given their first preference to a school are given priority over those who have not. This system is known as 'first preference first'. Parents have been asked whether they would prefer a change to a system known as 'equal preference'.
- Changes to the measurement/zoning system
The council has proposed a change from the current system under which distances from schools themselves are used to determine priority over places. Instead it is proposed to measure distances to 'imaginary schools' as follows:
The Council would use proximity to The Level - rather than to the school itself - to determine which children gained places at Dorothy Stringer. [The Dorothy Stringer website has a map that might help picture this: www.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/letters/admissions_map.GIF]
The Council would, for half of the available places, use proximity to the Sussex County Cricket Ground, rather than to the school itself, to determine which children gained places at Blatchington Mill.
- Sibling preference
The parents have been asked whether they wish to retain the current arrangement whereby applicants with a sibling at a school would receive priority.
