To consult with Overview & Scrutiny regarding Admission Arrangements for 2014/15.

The Assistant Director, Children’s Services presented this report, which outlined the Executive’s approval of the commencement of consultation on proposed changes to the Council’s Admission Arrangements, with specific reference to the Council’s coordinated admissions scheme and admission arrangements for Community and VC Schools. The Assistant Director went on to explain the differences between the admissions policy as it currently stands and that which was proposed for the academic year 2014/15.

Members of the Committee discussed the contents of the report in detail and raised the following issues:

·               With regard to pupils with siblings at a school, Members queried the definition of a “school” in this context when set against the changing educational landscape of federations and split school sites. The Assistant Director confirmed that the term “school” in this context could refer to a single federation of schools or a school with split sites;

·               With regard to the principle of “straight line distance”, Members expressed some concern over the difficulties this may create for pupils resident in Central Bedfordshire wishing to attend schools near county boundaries;

·               With regard to parental choice, the difficulty some parents experienced when trying to realise such choice at good schools which were already over-subscribed and conversely, the difficulty less popular schools had in trying to ensure sufficient pupil numbers.

The Assistant Director acknowledged the complexity of these issues and the possibility of reviewing admission arrangements to reflect local circumstances following the consultation exercise. It was therefore important to encourage a good response rate to the consultation exercise, which would hopefully capture these issues in more detail.

In conclusion, whilst the Committee was generally supportive of the proposed admission arrangements outlined within the report, it acknowledged the need for Members to encourage parents, school governors and head teachers to respond to the consultation before final admission arrangements were determined.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Committee endorses the proposed school admission arrangements in principle, but requests all to encourage parents, school governors and head teachers to respond to the consultation exercise before final arrangements are determined.