Agenda item

[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 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 of the arrangements.

The School Admissions Code (2014) sets out the requirement for all admission authorities to undertake statutory consultation where they propose a decrease to the PAN of a school

Tiverton Primary is a community school located at Pulford Road, London, N15 6SP, and sits within planning area 3. The school normally admits 2 classes (60 Reception pupils) per year. However, due to a local decrease in the demand for school places, we have consulted on the proposal to reduce the school’s PAN to 30 for the 2020/21 academic year.

Welbourne Primary is a community school located at Stainby Road, London, N15 4EA and sits within planning area 4. The school normally admits 3 classes (90 Reception pupils) per year. However, due to local decreases in the demand for school places, we have consulted on the proposal to reduce the school’s PAN to 60 for the 2020/21 academic year.

Both Tiverton and Welbourne Primary schools have vacancies across all year groups and our projections show that demand is likely to continue to decrease. There are also vacancies in other local primary schools in the area. Current school roll projections for planning area 3 (where Tiverton is located) suggest a surplus of school places of between 1-2 forms of entry between now and 2026/27. Current school roll projections for planning area 4 (where Welbourne is located) suggest a surplus of school places of between 3-4 forms of entry between now and 2021/22.

Approval was sought from the Schools Adjudicator for a temporary reduction in PAN for Tiverton Primary School for entry in September 2018. A reduction by 1 form of entry was agreed and it is likely that a similar request will be made for entry in September 2019. Our projections show that demand is likely to continue to decline with the school struggling to fill beyond 1 form of entry.

Welbourne Primary School has the highest number of vacancies across all year groups when compared with other schools in planning area 4. It is likely that this will have had a ripple effect locally as falling demand is rarely evidenced at just one school but is often felt across several. A benefit of planning places judiciously is that it keeps rolls relatively buoyant across and beyond any planning area as surplus places are reduced and school rolls can fill at or close to capacity.

The Council consulted on the proposal to reduce the number of available places at Tiverton and Welbourne Primary Schools to enable them to operate more efficiently and cost effectively. The proposed reduction of PANs for these schools will allow better alignment of PANs with actual number of pupils on roll, leading to cost savings to both schools.

Consulting on our admission arrangements for entry in September 2020 gives these schools sufficient time to review their internal structure so that any potential impact on staff reorganisation can be minimised. It will allow the school leadership teams in the longer term to plan judiciously by offering a realistic number of places that meets actual demand.

Consideration from an equalities perspective was given to the selection of these specific schools for a reduction in PANs to help frame any potential impact on all protected groups. Our proposal will not adversely impact on families trying to access their local school with high quality provision. A projected surplus of school places in the planning areas where these schools are located means that we expect sufficient places to still be available for local children if the PANs are reduced at Welbourne and Tiverton Primary School for entry in September 2020.

All Haringey schools are able to support children with a wide range of abilities, special needs, disabilities and learning difficulties, from able, gifted and talented pupils to those with multiple and significant disabilities, medical conditions and learning difficulties. Welbourne and Tiverton do not offer any specific provision that is not provided in other local schools.

In the unlikely event that a place cannot be offered at Welbourn and Tiverton schools, we believe that the needs of the community can and will be met at other local schools. We will continue to closely monitor the number of primary applications received in any given year and in the event there is an increase in demand for primary school places and additional places are required, the school(s) can revert to their original PAN. We will raise the PAN of the school(s) having looked at demand for each school.

Alternative options considered

We are required by the School Admission Code 2014 (para 1.42 – 1.45 of the Code) to consult on our admission arrangements between 1 October and 31 January each year for a minimum of sex weeks. Last year, the consultation on the proposed admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled (VC) schools included a proposal to introduce an additional oversubscription criteria for children of staff to follow after the sibling criterion. Cabinet agreed to the proposal in February last year which means the children of staff criterion will come into effect from September 2019.

This year we are not proposing a change to the oversubscription criterion for community and VC schools. While there are other ways admission arrangements can influence the allocations of school places set out in the School Admission Code 2014 (e.g. designated catchment areas, identified eligible for the early years premium/pupil premium), no alternative option is being considered at the time of writing this report.