Issue - meetings

[Report of the Director for Children’s Services. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families.]

Following public consultation held between November 2018 and January 2019, Cabinet is asked to determine the admission arrangements for admission to community nursery, primary, junior and secondary schools and to St Aidan’s Voluntary Controlled school and for sixth form admission for the year 2020/21.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families introduced this report which sought to set the council school admission arrangements for the academic year of 2020/2021. Local authorities were required to consider and determine admissions arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools by 28th February in each determination year. The Council had carried out a consultation to inform that decision making process from 26th November 2018 to 7th January 2019. The consultation response was set out in paragraph 6 of the report onwards. The Cabinet Member noted there was no proposed change to the oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools for 2020/21. However, it was proposed to change the public admission numbers for Welbourne and Tiverton primary schools by one form of entry (30 reception pupils each). It was hoped that reduction would allow the two schools to more effectively manage their budgets. It was not anticipated that families in the areas would be disadvantaged by these reductions, as there were surplus placements areas across both planning areas.

RESOLVED

1. To consider and take into account the dieback from the consultation undertaken which is set out in Appendix 8 and a summary included from paragraphs 7.1 – 7.9 of this report.

2. To consider and take into account the equalities impact assessment of the proposals on protected groups at Appendix 7.

3. To agree the recommendation set out in this report to proceed with proposal to reduce the published admission number (PAN) for Welbourne and Tiverton Primary Schools by one form of entry (1FE) – 30 Reception pupils each from September 2020 as part of the community and voluntary controlled (VC) schools’ published admission arrangements.

4. To determine the Council’s admission arrangements for the academic year 2020/21 as set out in Appendices 1 – 4.

5. To agree the in-year fair access protocol (IYFAP) as set out in Appendix 5 to come into force from 1 March 2019.

6. To agree that the determined arrangements for all maintained primary and secondary schools in the borough are published on the Council’s website by 15 March 2019 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.

Reasons for decision

The School Admissions Code 2014 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 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 arrangement does not comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code 2014.

The Council consults on its admission  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87