Agenda item - Admission Arrangements September 2023

Report of the Executive Director – Families, Children and Learning (copy to follow).

RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to:

2.1  Make no changes to the council’s school admission arrangements or secondary school catchment areas.

2.2  Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Bevendean Primary School and Nursery.

2.3 Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Carden Nursery & Primary School.

2.4 Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Coldean Primary School.

2.5 Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Queen’s Park Primary School.

2.6 Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Rudyard Kipling Primary School & Nursery.

2.7 Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Saltdean Primary School.

2.8  Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Woodingdean Primary School.

2.9 Make no change to the co-ordinated scheme for admissions or to the “relevant area”.

62.1    The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director Families Children and Learning which provided details of the proposed school admission arrangements for the city’s schools, for which the Council was the admission authority, for the academic year 2023-24.  The report detailed the outcome of the consultation undertaken in November and December 2021 on the proposed changes to the Published Admission Number of seven primary schools.  The report was introduced and summarised by the Head of School Organisation.

62.2    Councillor Brown supported the recommendations adding that the schools selected for the proposed reductions were all community schools serving a distinct area.  Two had specialist facilities and all had a high number of disadvantaged children on role. Despite smaller class sizes they were successfully managing their budgets.  She acknowledged the problem of empty spaces in schools remained, adding that a long-term solution was needed, rather than a piecemeal approach which caused turmoil for the schools involved.  She wanted to work with all schools in an open and transparent way to identify a sustainable solution.  

62.3    Councillor O’Quinn echoed Councillor Brown’s sentiments.  She was disappointed that that the biggest schools had appealed against the reduction of their Published Admission Number (PAN).  She wanted to seeing a cross-city consultation and looked forward to developing a fairer strategy for the future.

62.4    Councillor Meadows agreed with Councillors Brown and O’Quinn and congratulated the parents and schools.

62.5    Councillor John acknowledged that the issue of falling pupil numbers would continue into the future and there were difficult decisions ahead.  There were many factors to balance including a falling number of children, a growing number of empty places and limited options in terms of the solution.  She did not wish to make decisions which disproportionally affected disadvantaged students and she stressed the importance of protecting children with special educational needs.  The consultation had been a huge exercise in listening, learning and evaluating and she thanked everyone who had taken part.

62.6    Councill John conceded that PANs needed to be reduced in order to meet the financial pressures of maintaining empty spaces but accepted it was hard to make an argument to reduce admission numbers in schools that were successfully maintaining their budgets. She felt that keeping schools open and financially viable was going to be difficult. 

62.7    Simon Parr, on behalf of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, did not agree with the recommendations in general.  The Diocese fully understood the consultation responses and would expect most schools to be against reductions.  However, as in the report, if the number of surplus places was not addressed, some school would face significant financial issues.  Delaying the problem would make things worse and initial first preference data reinforced the need to reduce PANs. 

62.8    Councillor Hamilton’s main concern was Carden Primary School.  He did not understand the rationale for reducing their PAN given they had more first preferences than Bevendean or Coldean.  He agreed with the recommendations in the report and felt these were the best options available under the circumstances.

62.9    Diana Boyd addressed the committee.  PAC who represented the families of children with special educational needs had written a position statement which had been shared with councillors and officers.  PAC had not made recommendations either way because they understood the complexity of the situation.  She noted that children with special educational needs were more dependent on support staff than other pupils and stated this would have a disproportionate effect on these students if budgets were tightened.  She requested this be considered in future proposals.  With regard to the specialist facilities at Carden and Bevendean, she asked these to be taken into account when determining whether to reduce the PAN at these schools.  Lastly, she highlighted the importance of mitigating the negative impact on children with special education needs in any future decision making.  

62.10  Cllr Grimshaw noted the contribution of those who had campaigned for their schools and to all those who had listened.  

62.11  The Chair noted her pleasure at reaching a cross-party decision and thanked colleagues for attending consultation meetings. 

62.12  RESOLVED: The Committee agreed to:

Make no changes to the council’s school admission arrangements or secondary school catchment areas.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Bevendean Primary School and Nursery.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Carden Nursery & Primary School.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Coldean Primary School.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Queen’s Park Primary School.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Rudyard Kipling Primary School & Nursery.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Saltdean Primary School.

Make no change to the Published Admission Number (PAN) for Woodingdean Primary School.

Make no change to the co-ordinated scheme for admissions or to the “relevant area”.