Issue - meetings

Background:

This report outlined a proposed extension to the School Place Planning Principles, set within the School Place Planning Strategy 2022-27. This included principles to cover the selective sector and the selection process in more detail.

The report explained that Medway Council had a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places. The School Place Planning Strategy described the principles, methods and challenges of this duty. The proposed principles would help meet the Council Plan Priority of ‘Supporting Medway’s people to realise their potential’, and the outcome of ‘All children achieving their potential in schools’.

The report set out that following a consultation and subject to a decision by the Regional Schools Director in Spring 2023, from September 2024, three of Medway’s selective single gender schools would move to co-education. The proposals to change three schools to co-educational would result in a reduction in the number of more distant out of area pupils able to acquire a place at a Medway Grammar School. In view of this, a number of underpinning principles for selection were proposed for addition to the School Place Planning Strategy in order to help guide decision making on selective schools.

Reasons:

By approving the recommendations in section 9 of the report, the Cabinet is ensuring that the Council meets its statutory duty to ensure sufficient good quality school places are available.