Proposed changes to secondary school admissions are due to go before councillors next week. They include open admissions, catchment area changes, reduced intakes at three schools and more preferences.
The open admissions proposal will apply to 5 per cent rather than 20 per cent of places in each secondary school. Brighton and Hove City Council said that it had listened.
The council plans to make the changes from September next year as pupil numbers fall and to address inequalities.
An unusually high number of people responded to an eight-week public consultation in December and January – almost 4,000.
And the proposals led to two campaign groups – the Parent Support Group and Equity in Education – pitching in, with parents both for and against the proposal for open admission.
Proposals are due to go before a special council meeting on Thursday 27 February. They are
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- Five per cent of the published admission number (PAN) to be open admission for pupils from single-school catchment areas
- Reduce the intake in year 7 by one class or 30 pupils at Blatchington Mill and Dorothy Stringer and by two classes at Longhill
- Give parents and guardians four choices rather than three when applying for secondary school
- Give priority to children eligible for free school meals up to 30 per cent of admissions
- Move part of Whitehawk into the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment area and Kemp Town into the Longhill catchment
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Governors at Dorothy Stringer have welcomed the proposal to cut the school’s intake because the school has a high number of pupils on a relatively small site.
The governors said in response to the council’s consultation that pupils receiving free school meals already make up more than 30 per cent of admissions.
Last year councillors agreed to prioritise pupils receiving free school meals, up to the Brighton and Hove average, from September this year.
The “open admissions” proposal has proved the most controversy, with governors from six local authority maintained secondary schools sharing their concerns in the public consultation.
Open admissions would give children living in four secondary school catchments – BACA, PACA, Longhill and Patcham High – a better change of a place at schools such as Stringer, Varndean, Blatchington Mill and Hove Park.
The council has forecast that open admissions could lead to 250 children in Hove and central Brighton not gaining a place at their preferred local school if up to 20 per cent of places were allocated in this way.
Deputy council leader Jacob Taylor said that the council has listened and the option going before councillors next week would be for 5 per cent open admissions.
Concerns have been raised about children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) losing out under the open admissions proposal.
Both Brighton MPs have raised concerns about the impact on children with SEND, particularly those without an education, health and care plan (ECHP).
The Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Siân Berry, said: “This concerns me in relation to the proposed catchment changes because only children with an EHCP can benefit from admission processes outside the current proposals to find the right school for them and because it is clear that the location of schools can be crucial in maintaining engagement and attendance for SEND pupils, regardless of the quality of the support when they arrive at the school.
5% seems appropriate and would appease most sensible people. Its a fair compromise.