Agenda item

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

This report seeks Cabinet approval to commence a six-week period of statutory consultation to determine the Council’s School Admission Arrangements for the academic year 2021/22.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced this report which sought Cabinet approval to commence a six-week period of statutory consultation. This report and the consultation that would flow from it, if the report’s recommendations were agreed, would ensure that the Council’s proposed admission arrangements for 2021/22 were consulted upon and the co-ordinated scheme was set in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code 2014.

In response to questions from Councillor Emery, the following information was provided:

• Officers informed that admission arrangements fully complied with the Schools Admission Code 2014, which meant the Council prioritised looked after children, children with SEND, and children with siblings at the school. The fourth admission criteria was the distance from home to school which meant the Council prioritised families who lived closer to schools. This ensured the school was made up of children from families who lived locally. Where the Council suspected that families were renting closer to schools in order to gain an advantage over local residents, the Council had a policy to investigate such cases. However, if a family moved close by, bought/rented a home which was their single and only home, then they would be offered a school place in accordance with the fourth criteria based on home distance from the school.

• Officers confirmed that Council tenants living close to schools would not be disadvantaged by potentially wealthier families in the catchment area, insofar as they are able to meet the criteria as set out in the Schools Admission Code 2014.

• The Cabinet Member informed that all schools had a curriculum which included LGBT+ inclusive education.

RESOLVED

1. To agree to consult on the proposed admission arrangements, including the proposed in-year admissions scheme for the academic year 2021/22;

2. To agree to consult on the proposed IYFAP which, if agreed at Cabinet in February 2020, would be come into force from 1 March 2020;

3. To agree that the co-ordinated scheme for the admission of children to maintained primary and secondary schools as set out in Appendices 2 and 3 of this report can be published on the Haringey website on 1 January 2020;

4. To note that consultation on the proposed admission arrangements is scheduled to take place between 26 November 2019 and 7 January 2020;

5. To note that following the consultation, a report will be prepared summarising the representations received from the consultation and a decision on the final admission arrangements and the In-Year Fair Access Protocol will be taken by Cabinet in February 2020.

6. To note that at the November 2019 Cabinet meeting, the Council’s Cabinet is due to make a decision in a separate report on whether to agree to the recommendation to publish a statutory notice on the amalgamation of Stamford Hill Primary with Tiverton Primary School. If it were to go ahead, this will result in displaced pupils transferring to Tiverton Primary School.[item 77]

Reasons for decision

Why do we consult? - This report and the consultation that will flow from it if the report’s recommendations are agreed will ensure that our proposed admission arrangements for 2021/22 are consulted upon and the co-ordinated scheme is set in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code 2014.

The School Admissions Code (2014) requires all admission authorities to publicly consult on their admission arrangements where changes are being proposed. The Code stipulates that if no changes are made to admission arrangements, they must be consulted on at least once every 7 years.

We consult on our admission arrangements annually irrespective of whether or not there is a proposed change to the arrangements4. This is to ensure transparency and 3 In July 2019, Cabinet agreed that a formal consultation would be carried out between 9 September and 21 October 2019 on the future of Stamford Hill Primary and the Council’s preferred option of amalgamation with Tiverton Primary School. More information can be found on the Haringey website.

The Schools Admission Code 2014 (para 1.42) sets out that when changes are proposed to admission arrangements, all admission authorities must consult on their admission arrangements (including any supplementary information form) that will apply for admission applications the following school year. Where the openness on the contents of our arrangements and to allow parents, carers and other stakeholders who might not previously been interested in admission arrangements (perhaps because they didn’t have a child of school age) to make a representation which can then be considered as part of the determination of the arrangements.

Alternative options considered

We are required by the School Admissions Code 2014 (para 1.42 – 1.45 of the Code) to carry out any consultation on our admission arrangements between 1 October and 31 January each year for a minimum period of six weeks. We are not proposing any changes to the proposed admission arrangements for the year 2021/22. As set out in para 4.3 above, we consult annually on our arrangements irrespective of whether we are proposing any changes, to allow transparency and openness in the process.

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