Issue - meetings

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

The Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Families introduced the report which sought approval to commence a six-week period of statutory consultation on admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools.  It was a requirement for all schools to have admission arrangements which clearly set out how children would be admitted, including the criteria that will be applied if there were more applications than places at a school.  In addition, there was a requirement to publish a co-ordinated scheme setting out the procedures all schools and academies must follow to co-ordinate the admission process for the reception and secondary transfer admissions round to ensure that all residents were offered a school place.

In response to a question from Councillor Cawley-Harrison, the Cabinet Member advised that there was currently some research being carried out on school place planning, but this report was on admission arrangements, which was a separate issue.

RESOLVED to

1.         Agree to consult on the proposed admission arrangements, including the co-ordinated schemes for admission of children to schools for the academic year 2023/24.

2.         Agree to consult on the proposed fair access protocol^[1] which, if agreed at Cabinet in February 2022, would come into force from 1 March 2022;

3.         Agree that the co-ordinated schemes for the admission of children to maintained primary and secondary schools as set out in Appendix 8 of this report can be published on the Haringey website on 1 January 2022;

4.         Note that the proposed consultation on the proposed admission arrangements is scheduled to take place between 25 November 2021 and 6 January 2022;

5.         Note that following the consultation, a report will be prepared summarising any representations received and a decision on the final admission arrangements for 2023/24 will be taken by Cabinet in February 2022.

Reasons for decision

Why do we consult? - This report and the consultation that will flow from it will ensure that our proposed admission arrangements for 2023/24 are consulted upon and the co-ordinated scheme is set in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code 2021 (the Code).

The Code requires all admission authorities to publicly consult on their admission arrangements. If no changes are made to admission arrangements, they must be consulted on at least once every 7 years. The Council is the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled (VC) schools within the borough and is therefore responsible for determining the admission arrangements for these schools.

Ensuring there is a transparent and objective school admissions process is a statutory requirement and an integral part of the Council’s work. Oversubscription criteria must be reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair, and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation. Admission authorities must ensure that their arrangements will not disadvantage unfairly, either directly or indirectly, a child from a particular social or racial group, or a child with a disability or special educational needs, and that other policies around school uniform or school trips do not discourage parents from applying for a place  ...  view the full minutes text for item 657