Agenda item

This report details the outcome of the consultation on the primary and secondary co-ordinated admission schemes and seeks views on the proposed 2019 admission arrangements.

Discussion:

The Programme Lead – School Services, introduced the report which provided the Committee with the proposed 2019 admission arrangements.  The report included details of the consultation on the proposed primary and secondary co-ordinated admission schemes.  One response to the consultation was received and was supportive of the proposals. The Programme Lead – School Services also outlined the proposed changes to the Primary and Secondary co-ordinated scheme and admission arrangements. Save for the revision of dates to fit the 2019 admission deadline, the only changes were to the primary admissions and these included the introduction of a criterion for the children of ‘crown servants’ and clarity of the definition of ‘teaching staff’. There were no further changes to secondary admissions.

Members raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·         Halling School – In response to request from a Member for assurances that sufficient school places would be available for children in the St Andrew’s Park Development in Halling School, the Programme Lead – School Services advised Halling had an ease of access area and further that there had not been an issue in previous years to accommodate the school children. The Programme Lead – School Services noted that under the Greenwich Judgement priority could not be given to Medway children over Kent children and unless there was an ease of access area, distance would be the prevailing criterion.  He added St Andrew’s Park was equidistant between Halling and Cuxton Schools although officially within Halling. The Programme Lead – School Services undertook to liaise with officers working on the School Organisation Plan to monitor sufficiency of places. 

·         Medway Test – In response to concerns in relation to the publication of the test results, a Member asked whether the timing of the distribution of the results could be brought forward to 10am, the Assistant Director, Commissioning, Business and Intelligence explained that the Finance Department were undertaking a review of the process. The Assistant Director, Commissioning, Business and Intelligence undertook to provide the Committee with a summary report on the review of the Medway Test. 

A Member agreed that the Medway Test process required improvement but raised concerns that bringing forward the timing of the results distribution would cause issues within the playground if some parents had results and others did not.

A Member further commented that sending out a hard copy of results in addition to email complicated matters.

·         Consultation response – In response to a question from a Member, the Programme Lead – School Services clarified that the consultation was open to the public, not just headteachers and a range of means to notify interested parties of the consultation had been employed, including emailing every school, sending out a bulletin and a press release, in addition to requesting schools to print a paper copy for parents who preferred to access a hard copy.

·         ‘Crown servants’ and ‘teaching staff’ clarification – In response to a request from a Member for clarification, the Programme Lead – School Services explained ‘crown servants’ included UK Service Personnel and those working in the Diplomatic Services posted internationally, the criterion was not as broad as the Civil Service. In addition ‘teaching staff’ would not extend to catering staff or facilities staff for example but had been extended to Teaching Assistants in response to a challenge at a recent School Admission Appeal Hearing.

·         Academies and Free Schools – Asked whether the arrangements for Academies and Free Schools were different, the Programme Lead – School Services explained in relation to the over subscription criteria and published admission numbers academies were responsible for setting their own. The Local Authority had a duty to monitor the arrangements of these school types to ensure they were legal and complied with the School Admissions Code. The Local Authority would also respond to any consultation in the same way a member of the public could. Point of entry admission processes were coordinated by the Local Authority as a statutory requirement. In year admissions would vary. The Programme Lead – School Services Free added that free schools would be their own admission authority and the Local Authority would have the same statutory duty to monitor their legal compliance. 

·         False information – In response to a question on Medway Council’s policy on parents providing false or fraudulent information, for example, incorrect address to achieve the desired school placement, the Programme Lead – School Services advised the Council would undertake an investigation and, if necessary, withdraw the offer. If a child had been at the school for some time, it would be more difficult to withdraw the offer as the wellbeing of the child would need to be considered. There had not been an incidence of this at Medway Council.

Decision:

The Committee noted the proposed admissions arrangements and schemes and the outcome of the consultation and recommended them to the Cabinet for approval.