Secondary School Admissions in Brighton & Hove
Working Group newsletter June 2006
The Issue
Local authorities throughout the country must make admissions arrangements, which balance parents' right to state their preferred school with the number of places available at oversubscribed schools. Systems must be easily understood and as consistent as they can be, given that there are fluctuating circumstances each year. In Brighton & Hove the percentage of children allocated to their first preference school in the last year was 86.1%. Over the previous five years the percentage of successful first preferences has varied between 88% and 93%.
The Schools
The eight Community Secondary Schools (Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer, Falmer, Hove Park, Longhill, Patcham High, Portslade Community College and Varndean) are the schools for which the Council can change admission policy. As a church aided school, the Governing Body of Cardinal Newman School, not the Council, is responsible for deciding admission policy at that school.
The History
The scheme used before 2004 centered on the practice of drawing preference areas for schools after applications had been made. This process opened officers to charges of redrawing areas arbitrarily or against covert criteria. The present secondary place allocation scheme was put in place to eliminate officer discretion in either the drawing of geographical preference areas or the allocation of a pupil to an alternative school. However the new scheme, although objective, resulted in some areas of the City having a lesser likelihood of gaining a place at a preferred school than under the previous system because it was based on distance measurement from home to individual schools. Conversely other areas are more or less guaranteed a place at two or even three different schools.
During the last year a review took place and a Working Group (WG) consulted the City on a number of options including an equal preference system, a nodal system and whether or not to retain the sibling link. It was agreed to retain the sibling link but the WG recommended that further work be carried out into the various options for a Secondary Admissions process. A second working group chaired by the Assistant Director Schools was formed to explore ideas put forward last year, to consider alternative approaches and to consider the impact of the Government's Schools Bill on our admissions process and any potential implications of Falmer becoming an Academy.
The Process
The WG includes six City Councilors from the four main political parties and four members of the Parent Stakeholder Group (PSG). The WG will make its recommendations to CFS Committee in November 2006. The earliest possible date within Government regulations at which changes to the arrangements could be introduced for those pupils who will transfer to secondary school would be September 2008.
The Current Position
At present three priorities are applied in order to decide which pupils should be given places when a school has more applicants than places. The priorities are:
- Exceptional reasons. This includes children with Statements of Special Educational Needs, children in the care of a local authority, and exceptional medical and social reasons supported by independent professional opinion.
- Sibling link, where a brother or sister will be attending the school in years 7 to 11 when the new applicant starts.
- All other applicants, with priority given to those living closest to the school by the shortest available walking route.
Future Possibilities
In the course of discussions and on the basis of evidence received, the WG have identified five key factors for formulating its proposals (not in order of priority)
- Access to preferred schools
- Travelling distance
- Links between schools and communities
- Importance of meeting parental preference
- Social justice
Any changes to the current position will need to take these factors into account.
How will new proposals be determined?
A number of public meetings will be held on the following dates.
Monday 26 June, 9.15-10.45
Longhill High School
Monday 26 June, 16.30-18.00,
Brighton Centre East Wing Hall A
Tuesday 27 June, 9.15-10.45
Westdene Primary School
Wednesday 28 June, 17.00-18.30
Varndean High School
Friday 30 June, 10.00-11.30
Moulsecoomb Primary School
Tuesday 4 July, 17.00-18.30
Benfield Junior School
Wednesday 5 July, 9.15-10.45
Hangleton Junior School
Thursday 6 July, 17.15-18.45
West Hove Junior School
Friday 7 July, 14.00-15.30
Whitehawk Primary School
Tuesday 11 July, 17.30-19.00
Hove Town Hall Great Hall
We have tried to enable as many people as possible to attend by holding these meetings at various locations around the City and at different times of the day. You are welcome to come to any venue even if your child does not attend that particular school. Please note parking may be limited.
At these meetings Council officers, Members, PSG and WG representatives will present the options and models they are considering. Headteachers will also be directly consulted as part of the process.
There is also a large bank of evidence and comment from the previous year's work. This, together with feedback from the public meetings will help inform the WG's and PSG's proposals.
It is recognized that there is no system that can guarantee 100% parental satisfaction. Our intention is to end systematically excluding any areas of the City from the possibility of obtaining a choice of Secondary School.
Gil Sweetenham
Assistant Director Schools
gil.sweetenham@brighton-hove.gov.uk
or contact the PSG on psg@brighton-hove.gov.uk