Agenda item - Secondary School Admission Arrangements 2018/9 and 2019/20

Report of the Executive Director, Children’s Services (copy attached).

24.1    RESOLVED:

            That the Committee agreed:

(1)   Noted the responses to the engagement activities which had helped to inform the current proposals developed by the Cross Party School Organisation Working Group (CPSOWG) for future admission arrangements.

(2)  Noted that, as their own admission authorities, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, King’s School, the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, Portslade Aldridge Community Academy and the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school were responsible for their own admission arrangements.

(3)  Agreed that in view of the lack of greater certainty regarding the site of the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school it would premature to make significant and potentially uninformed changes to the admissions arrangements for September 2018.

(4)  Requested that a report be provided to the Committee in due course in respect of progress in finding a site for the new school, including, if required, a temporary site so as to provide for the opening of the school in September 2018.

(5)  Noted that pending the identification of a suitable catchment to reflect the site of the school, the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school had agreed (subject to approval from the DfE) to adopt admission arrangements for September 2018 which would provide for parents across the city to seek admission, but that those admissions arrangements would be the subject of further review for admissions in 2019 as the Trust were fully committed to being part of city wide co-ordinated admissions scheme.

(6) Agreed that any future formal consultation in respect of admission

arrangements should include the proposal for the introduction of a priority for pupils in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM).

(7)  Noted that a report to determine the admission arrangements for maintained community schools, for entry in September 2018, would be presented to this committee for consideration in due course.

24.1    The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Children’s Services regarding the secondary school admission arrangements for 2018/19. The report was presented by the Assistant Director, Children’s Services and the Head of School Organisation.

24.2    The report provided an update on the outcomes of the engagement phase, held earlier in the year, and the conclusions reached by the Cross Party School Organisation Working Group (CPSOWG) regarding proposed revisions to the admission arrangement for the city’s secondary schools. The report noted that there was not yet confirmation of the permanent site for the new school, nor determined admission arrangements for schools that were their own admission authority. It had not therefore been possible to put forward proposals as part of city wide admission arrangement for September 2018.

24.3    The Legal Advisor confirmed the following:

·                That the Committee would not be setting the admission criteria for 2018/19 at this meeting.

·                That the Committee was noting that there would be no proposal for a formal consultation for the 2018/19 arrangements, for the reasons set out in the report.

·                There would be a future paper setting out the arrangement for 2018/19 which would come to the Committee in due course.

·                When the Committee did consider that report, it would be advised of the admission arrangements adopted by those schools whose admission arrangements were not set by the Local Authority.

·                The report being considered at this meeting would not bind the Committee on future arrangements for 2019/20. The admission arrangements for 2019/20 would need to be set by February 2018, which would mean that any formal consultation would have to commence in Autumn 2017.

·                The Committee would only be bound if it agreed Recommendation 2.6 in the report, which related to Free School Meals being included in any formal consultation on future admission arrangements.

24.4    Ms Mortensen noted that the majority of the responses to the public engagement had come from those residing within the current catchment area for Dorothy Stringer and Varndean, and was concerned that the opinions of those from other parts of the city, particularly East Brighton who had contributed less to the public engagement, would not hold as much weight. The Head of School Organisation confirmed that all responses were considered equally by the CPSOWG.

24.5    Councillor Phillips thanked officers, Councillor Chapman and fellow members of CPSOWG, for all the work undertaken to date. Councillor Phillips said she supported the proposal to consider the introduction of priority for pupils in receipt of Free School Meals. The Assistant Director, Children’s Services said that the CPSOWG had looked at how the needs of the more challenged families in the city could be met, and the current legislation allowed Admission Authorities to introduce priority to those in receipt of Free School Meals.

24.6    Councillor Phillips was concerned that a permanent site for the new school had not yet been confirmed. She noted that it may be necessary to open a temporary secondary school whilst the site of a permanent school was agreed, and asked for assurance that any temporary school would not use portacabins. The Head of School Organisation said that temporary accommodation may have to be used, but if they were portacabins they would be of a high standard. The Executive Director Families, Children and Learning said that it was very disappointing that a permanent site had not yet been confirmed, and at the moment it was too early to comment on any temporary site or what facilities would be available.

24.7    Councillor Brown thanked Councillor Chapman, officers and fellow members of the CPSOWG for their work to date. Councillor Brown said it was regrettable that no permanent site had yet been confirmed and the uncertainty that that created. The Conservative group noted that the schools currently under the most pressure were within central part of the city, and it therefore made sense to place the new school there. However, that would then mean that there would be three schools in one catchment area, and the option of putting that school as a dual catchment school with Longhill was preferable.  There was consensus amongst the CPSOWG to introduce a priority in the admission criteria for those in receipt of Free School Meals. The current admission criteria allowed for random allocation for over subscribed school, and that would continue to be supported by the Conservative Councillors. Councillor Brown noted that the admission criteria for those schools that were their own admission authority had not been agreed, and hoped that that did not indicate any problems. The Assistant Director, Children’s Services confirmed that those schools were keen to continue working with the Local Authority, and it was simply that their admission criteria had not been confirmed at this stage.

24.8    Councillor Mitchell shared the disappointment that the site of the new school could not yet be confirmed and hoped that that would be resolved as soon as possible. As a Councillor for East Brighton, she thanked officers for their engagement with those in that part of the city.

24.9    Councillor Wealls referred to Free School Meals and asked if the percentage of places were not taken up within the catchment areas, and so some were allocated to those out of catchment, whether that would deny some children who lived in the area a place. The Head of School Organisation said that the expectation was that it would not dislodge any catchment area child from being offered a place. Councillor Wealls asked that that scenario be tested thoroughly.

24.10  Councillor Wealls asked that if Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) and Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) did not agree to use the Local Authority’s admission criteria that Councillors be notified. The Assistant Director, Children’s Services confirmed they would. She added that the Authority had regular partnership meetings with those schools and they had reiterated that they wanted to continue to work with the Council.

24.11  Councillor Taylor said that he represented the Withdean ward, and wanted to thank officers for their engagement with local residents. He was concerned that there was a bulge year approaching of children due to start secondary school and he was concerned that no site for the new school had been agreed. He hoped it would be resolved soon to alleviate any uncertainty over school places. The Chair reassured Councillor Taylor that the Authority was working hard to locate a site for the new school.

24.12  Ms A Holt noted that there was a Green Paper on future education, and was concerned that if schools were not reaching the desired level of attainment there could be pressure for the new school to be a Grammar School. Ms Holt asked that the CPSOWG factor in the Green Paper during their discussions. The Chair said that the Green Paper was still in its infancy and would be considered in due course.

24.13  Mr M Jones thanked everyone for their hard work in this matter. He said that the statistics of  those in receipt of Free School Meals 2015 differed from the percentages used by the CPSOWG. The Head of School Organisation said the figures from 2015 were students who were at secondary school at that time, but the working group had been looking at primary school children who would be moving up to secondary school.

24.14  Mr Jones said that schools had different levels of attainment in GCSEs and suggested that unless all school/s in a particular catchment area were credible families may move to a different part of the city to attend an alternative school. The Assistant Director, Children’s Services said that the CPSOWG had looked at many different options, and whilst schools did currently have different levels of attainment the focus was to improve the standards in all schools. Ms Mortensen added that all schools provided a good education, but it was important to improve the perception of some schools.

24.15  Krisztian Darvas asked if the views of children at primary school had been taken into account by the CPSOWG, and was advised that they had with731 responses received from pupils in Years 3 and 4.

24.16  RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(1)   Noted the responses to the engagement activities which had helped to inform the current proposals developed by the Cross Party School Organisation Working Group for future admission arrangements.

(2)  Noted that, as their own admission authorities, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, King’s School, the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, Portslade Aldridge Community Academy and the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school were responsible for their own admission arrangements.

(3)  Agreed that in view of the lack of greater certainty regarding the site of the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school it would premature to make significant and potentially uninformed changes to the admissions arrangements for September 2018.

(4)  Requested that a report be provided to the Committee in due course in respect of progress in finding a site for the new school, including, if required, a temporary site so as to provide for the opening of the school in September 2018.

(5)  Noted that pending the identification of a suitable catchment to reflect the site of the school, the new University of Brighton Academies Trust secondary school had agreed (subject to approval from the DfE) to adopt admission arrangements for September 2018 which would provide for parents across the city to seek admission, but that those admissions arrangements would be the subject of further review for admissions in 2019 as the Trust were fully committed to being part of city wide co-ordinated admissions scheme.

(6) Agreed that any future formal consultation in respect of admission

arrangements should include the proposal for the introduction of a priority for pupils in receipt of Free School Meals.

(7)  Noted that a report to determine the admission arrangements for maintained community schools, for entry in September 2018, would be presented to this committee for consideration in due course.