Decision details

RESOLVED:

It is recommended that Cabinet make the following recommendations to the County Council:

Recommendation 1

That the published admissions number for Reception at Furzefield Primary School is decreased from 60 to 58 for September 2020.

Reasons for decision

·         It will enable children admitted to the SEND Learning and Additional Needs centre to be educated in the mainstream class more than 50% of the time

·         It will reduce the likelihood of the school having to take qualifying measures to meet infant class size legislation

·         It is supported by the Headteacher and Governing Body of the school

·         There will still be sufficient places for local children if the PAN is decreased

·         It will have no impact on children who are currently on roll at the school

Recommendation 2

That the admission arrangements for Wallace Fields Junior School are amended so that the measuring point used to assess nearest school and home to school distance will be the nearest gate of either Wallace Fields Infant School or Wallace Fields Junior School.

Reasons for Decision

·         There was overall support for this change

·         It will ensure that the school serves the local community around both the infant and the junior schools

·         It will enable more local children to transfer from the infant school to the junior school

·         It will support families by keeping siblings at schools that are within close proximity

·         It will remove uncertainty for some families who have the infant school as their nearest school at Reception but not the junior school at Year 3

·         This proposal is in line with a separate consultation by Wallace Fields Infant School to make the same changes to their admission arrangements. The change to the admission arrangements for Wallace Fields Junior School is subject to the governors of Wallace Fields Infant School also agreeing to the same change at their full Governing Body meeting on Wednesday 16 January 2019

·         It is supported by the Headteacher and Governing Body of Wallace Fields Junior School

Recommendation 3

That children previously in state care outside England who left that care as a result of being adopted are given priority under criterion two for children with an exceptional social/medical need.

Reasons for Decision

·         It is consistent with the advice issued by Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards, and advice issued by the Department for Education in August 2018

·         It provides as much parity as the local authority can provide with children who have been adopted from care in England, who receive priority within criterion one

·         It will ensure that this vulnerable group of children will receive priority in the admissions process for community and voluntary controlled schools, regardless of the country in which the child was in state care, as long as they were adopted from that care.

Recommendation 4

That Surrey’s Relevant Area is agreed as set out in Enclosure 3 to the submitted report.

Reasons for Decision

·         The local authority is required by law to define the Relevant Area for admissions

·         The Relevant Area must be consulted upon and agreed every two years even if no changes are proposed

·         Setting a Relevant Area ensures that any schools who might be affected by changes to the admission arrangements for other local schools will be made aware of those changes

·         No change has been made to Surrey’s Relevant Area since it was last determined in March 2017

Recommendation 5

That the Published Admission Numbers (PANs) for September 2020 for all other community and voluntary controlled schools (excluding Furzefield Primary School which is covered by Recommendation 1) are determined as they are set out in Appendix 1 of Enclosure 1 of the Cabinet.

Reasons for Decision

·         All other PANs remain as determined for 2019 which enables parents to have some historical benchmark by which to make informed decisions about their school preferences

·         The School Commissioning team supports the PANs

Recommendation 6

That the aspects of Surrey’s admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools for September 2020 for which no change is proposed, are agreed as set out in Enclosure 1 and its appendices.

Reasons for Decision

·         The existing arrangements are working well

·         This will ensure stability and consistency for the majority of Surrey’s parents, pupils and schools

·         The arrangements enable parents to have some historical benchmark by which to make informed decisions about their school preferences

·         The arrangements enable the majority of pupils to attend their nearest schools and in doing so reduce travel and support Surrey’s sustainability policies

·         Schools which will not be taken in to account in the assessment of nearest school, as set out in Appendix 3 of Enclosure 1, have been determined by the definition set out in paragraph 12 of Enclosure 1

Recommendation 7

That the primary and secondary coordinated admission schemes that will apply to all schools for 2020 are agreed as set out in Enclosure 2 of the Cabinet report. 

Reasons for Decision

·         The coordinated schemes for 2020 are essentially the same as 2019 with dates updated

·         The coordinated schemes would enable the County Council to meet its statutory duties regarding school admissions

·         The coordinated schemes are working well

·         Changes highlighted in bold in Enclosure 2 add clarity and are in line with the schemes proposed by other local authorities participating in the Pan London coordinated admissions process