A primary school head teacher told a leading councillor that parents were either moving away or sending their children to Catholic schools after changes to secondary school catchment areas.
Queen’s Park Primary School head Emma Gale made her comments at a St Luke’s Residents’ Association meeting on Monday (24 March).
Brighton and Hove City Council deputy leader Jacob Taylor was present, having spoken about school admissions.
The council has moved part of Kemp Town into the catchment for Longhill and part of Whitehawk and the Manor Farm estate into the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment.
The changes affect children starting secondary school in September next year.
The council is also introducing an “open admissions” policy. The change will mean that up to 5 per cent of places in “community” secondaries will be reserved for children who live in a single-school catchment area.
The policy is expected to mean that pupils who might otherwise go to BACA, PACA, Longhill or Patcham High have more chance of going instead to Dorothy Stringer, Varndean, Blatchington Mill or Hove Park.
Ms Gale said that she has asked the council several times how redrawing the catchment would improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged children but had not received a response.
She said: “I completely agree with the idea that a group of children have been put in, quite rightly, and I completely welcome the conversation about improving social equity. It’s something I’ve spent my whole career fighting for.
“I don’t understand how putting one group of children in and taking another group out is going to achieve that.
“BACA has 50 to 60 per cent pupil premium (free school meals). Queen’s Park has 40 nearer 50 per cent. It’s dramatically impacting our school. I see it on the ground every day.
“What I am seeing is those people who have the capacity and means to put themselves in a better position, to put their children into schools they need or want to, they are already moving.
“I’ve had several children leave my school to take their place at Catholic schools so I don’t understand how this is going to achieve the outcome.”
Ms Gale said that she felt her school had been targeted twice in the past two years of school admissions policy consultations.
Last year the council proposed reducing the published admission number – often referred to as the PAN – from 60 to 30, making the school one-form entry from September. This proposal was withdrawn after a consultation.
The latest consultation removed a significant proportion of the Queen’s Park School’s neighbourhood from the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment and into the Longhill catchment.
Councillor Taylor apologised for the council failing to respond to Ms Gale’s queries. He said: “I think we have to be clear we not giving disadvantage or advantage to any one set of pupils.
“I don’t believe going to Longhill is a punishment or a disadvantage. I went to Longhill myself. So did most of my family, my partner and all my friends.
“What the policy has always been about is not saying if some set of Whitehawk children go to Stringer or Varndean, that’s it, we’re all done and the whole problem is solved.
“The changing of catchments does not mean a whole bunch of pupils are going to get super star results or they would get bad results at Longhill.
“What it’s about is saying there is evidence – and we had input from academics during and before – it is not a good idea to have sharply segregated schools along socio-economic lines.
“If you can balance your schools, it’s a good thing for all sorts of reasons, not least the concept of certain schools having bad reputations and trying to get away from them.”
He said that the change in catchments would balance out the two areas.
Adjusting the catchments was a reasonable change, he added, and youngsters from Kemp Town and Whitehawk would still need transport because neither area was in walking distance of a state secondary school.
Councillor Taylor was sorry to hear that parents were choosing to leave Queen’s Park School but he said that faith school admissions were not controlled by the council.
Cardinal Newman Catholic School has a city-wide catchment because its admission policies include faith elements and links to Catholic primary schools, including schools in Shoreham and Seaford.
He added: “Parents may choose to go to Catholic primary schools as a way to try to get a place at Cardinal Newman. It’s difficult because there’s nothing we can do about that.
“Families that have means will often try to ensure they get a specific school and that’s not a system I think is a good thing.
“I argue our open admissions policy starts to shift that system a bit. It offers choice and equity to those who live in outlying areas.”
School transport is due to be reviewed as part of the process of change.
So, is Ms Gale making an argument of personal incredulity?