Agenda item

The report will seek Cabinet Member approval for the Council’s school admission arrangements for the academic year 2018/19, including the in-year access protocol.

The Cabinet Member noted the report, which sought approval for the Council’s school admission arrangements for the academic year 2018/19.

The Chair was advised of a small amendment to the wording of the In Year Fair Access Protocol, which was included at Appendix 6 of the report.  The Chair agreed that  the fifth bullet point under Paragraph 22 of the In Year Fair Access Protocol would state that the  panel would take in to account “the age, ability, aptitude and needs (including special educational needs, if any) of the student, where this is known”.  The Chair was advised that this change was made to provide greater clarity for users of the protocol.

RESOLVED

1. To determine the Council’s admission arrangements for the academic year 2018/19 as set out in Appendices 1- 5 of the report;
2. To agree that the in-year fair access protocol (IYFAP) set out in Appendix 6 of the report comes into force from 1 March 2017;
3. To agree the determined admission arrangements for all maintained primary and secondary schools in the borough are published on the Council’s s website by no later than 15 March 2017 with an explanation of the right of any person or body, under the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) Regulations 2012, to object to the Schools Adjudicator in specified circumstances^[1]. 

Reasons for decision

The School Admissions Code 2014 (“the Code”) requires all admission authorities to determine admission arrangements every year, even if they have not changed from previous years.  Regulation 17 of the School Admissions Regulations 2012 also requires admission authorities to determine admission arrangements by 28 February in the determination year.

In addition, the Regulations require the admission authority (in this case the local authority) to publish on its website by no later than 15 March in the determining year the determined arrangements of all maintained primary and secondary school and academies in the borough, advising the right to object to the Schools Adjudicator, where it is considered that the arrangements do not comply with the mandatory provisions of the Code.

The Code sets out that if no changes are made to admission arrangements, they must be consulted on at least once every 7 years. The Council consults on its admission arrangements annually irrespective of whether or not there is a proposed change to the arrangements. This is to ensure transparency and openness on the contents of the admission arrangements and to allow all stakeholders to make representations which can then be considered as part of the determination process. Representations may also result in consideration being given to proposed changes in the future to admission arrangements.

Alternative options considered

There is a statutory requirement on all admission authorities to determine their admission arrangements each year and as set out above for those arrangements to be consulted on if there is a proposed change or at least once every 7 years if there has been no change in that period.

We are not proposing any changes to the proposed admission arrangements for the year 2018/19 apart from a small number of minor technical changes:

Appendix 1 – Nursery admission arrangements, criterion 3: minor technical alteration providing clarity on the Council’s already well established practise of giving priority to children with a sibling attending the associated infant or junior school as well as to children with a sibling at a primary school. There are five infant and junior community schools with nurseries in Haringey – Belmont, Rokesly, South Harringay, Campsbourne and Bounds Green.

Appendix 2 – Reception and Junior admission arrangements, note 2: minor technical alteration providing clarity on the Council’s already well established practise of not giving priority in reception to children with a sibling attending the nursery.  The Council has been mindful that it must not give priority to children on the basis of any practical or financial support parents may give to the school or any associated organisation. Such support may be given where parents pay optional fees to the school-run nursery for additional hours on top of their 15-hour funded early education for the sibling. This is set out in paragraph 1.9(e) of the Code. The Council also considers that giving such a priority is not fair to local parents who choose not to send their children to nursery and such arrangements would be vulnerable to an objection to the Schools Adjudicator - if very few or no places are available to other parents once those with siblings attending the nursery have been admitted to reception.

Appendix 5 – Sixth Form admission arrangements: minor technical alternations to some of the entry requirements and pathways set by sixth form providers who manage their own sixth form admissions. There are also some minor textual changes in view of the statutory changes to GCSE gradings (previously lettered, now numerical). All changes made at Appendix 5 are compliant with the Code.

Appendix 6 – In-year fair access protocol (IYFAP) - a) that the required number of primary heads needed to sit on the Primary IYFAP panel shall be no less than 3, and b)that all year 6 in-year applications will be offered through the Primary IYFAP once the October school census of the same year has taken place (first Thursday of October). More detailed information on the changes to Appendix 6 is set out at paragraphs 6.19 and 6.20 of the report. 

While there are other ways admission arrangements can influence the allocation of school places set out in the Code (e.g. designated catchment areas or identified feeder schools) no alternative criteria were being considered at the time of the consultation. Responses to the consultation which proposed a significant change to the proposed admission arrangements outside the current format consulted on will not result in any alterations at this time, as proper consideration must be given to all material facts and the potential impact on any protected groups must be fully explored before any change can occur. Further comment is made on this in paragraph 6.12 of the report.