Keep Horsley in The Howard Action Group

 

 

 

Latest Action Group News

Report from Review of 2007 Admissions

 

2008/9 Key Actions

 

See all Action Group news items

This part of the website provides more detailed information on the activity of the Action Group and identifies documents that may be helpful for parents appealing.

 

Organisation

An Action Group has been set up to campaign for places for Horsley children at the Howard of Effingham. The group is being chaired by Anthony DeLaney, (a local Vicar). The Action Group is organising the following key activities (coordinators shown in brackets):

  1. PR through local and national media

  2. Lobbying of influential individuals and groups (incl. Surrey County Council)

  3. Finance to support the campaign

  4. Legal Advice to support challenges to the Admission Rules

  5. Open letters of support from 'expert witnesses' who can support the arguments

  6. Collation of a database of affected people and distance statistics

  7. A petition of support from people in the local community

  8. Liaison between the Action Group and the Raleigh School

 

Weekly meetings are being held to manage and coordinate all these activities .

 

Objective and Priorities

The overall objective is to ensure that Horsley children continue to have access to their local secondary school as they have done for many years.

The immediate priority is to try to get places for all Horsley children in September 2007 through a combination of getting measurement errors corrected, lobbying for extra capacity to be added to the school and making a strong legal Appeal case. The longer term objective is to secure changes to the Admission Policy for the future to protect the interests of younger children living in Horsley.

 

 

What has changed from last year that could have caused this?

We do not yet have all the facts but understand that the following things have changed:

Change 2006 2007 Effect on Places Available to Children without Siblings or Exceptional Cases Reasons
Places initially offered 260 240 -20 We think that fewer places have been initially offered due to undertainty about the impact of the change to an Equal Preference system (where children are admitted only according to the school's admiission criteria and irrespective of where the school sits on their list of 3 preferred schools).
 
Withdrawal of Admission Priority Area (APA) system for determining Catchment Areas ? ? ? In 2006, after considering exceptional circumstances and siblings, admissions to the Howard were determined based on an Admissions Priority Area (APA). The Executive Director for Children & Young People determined the APA in consultation with county councillors, headteachers and/or school governors of the Howard and other local schools. Consideration was given to the following factors in no ranked order of priority:
  • availability of places at alternative schools
  • any longstanding community links, road and rail links
  • any clear natural boundaries such as main roads or rivers

In 2007, the APA system was withdrawn in favour of system which measures how far children live from each school based on roads and made-up footpaths.

This change appears to have been agreed by Surrey CC on the basis that an APA would not be feasible under an Equal Preference System and an Equal Preference System was thought to result in more children being offered at least one of their preferences.

Increase in sibling admissions 119 124 -5 There are 5 more children admitted this year due to older siblings being already at the Howard of Effingham.
Exceptional Circumstance admissions ? 5 ?  
Increase in First Preferences 309 320 ? There were 11 additional applications where the Howard of Effingham was stated as the first choice school. It is not clear why this is although it is likely to be an impact of the change to an Equal Preference System. We do not know now many of this these 11 have been offered places.
Second Preference Offers 0 3 -3 Three people have been offered places at the Howard of Effingham who expressed a higher preference for another school. This would be an impact of the change to an Equal Preference System.

 

 

Timetable

At the moment we believe that the key dates are as follows:

Request Notice of Appeal asap All affected parents who wish to Appeal against rejected applications to the Howard need to request this form from the Surrey County Council Contact Centre (0845 6 009 009)
     
Present Action Group Arguments to Surrey County Concil for consideration asap There has so far been an exchange of emails and meeting has been requested. Surrey CC has said it will meet with the Action Group in early April.
     
Deadline for Accepting School Offers 15th March This is the deadline by which parents must accept or reject offers for school places.
     
Waiting List Positions Available 17th April This is the date when everyone should be able to find out from the Contact Centre where they are on the waiting list for places.
     
Deadline to Submit Appeal Notice 20th April This is the latest date by when Appeal Notice can be returned. The current suggestion is that we submit all our Appeal Notices at the same time at the latest possible date to provide the maximum time for preparation.
     
Howard of Effingham presents case for rejection of Multiple Appeals to all or groups of parents and Appeal Panel end of June / early July We believe that Individual Appeals for the same school will initially be "Grouped" by the Appeal Panel so that they can be considered as a whole. There should be an opportunity to challenge the Howard's reasoning at this meeting and present arguments that are common to Horsley appellants..
     
Individual Appeal Hearings end of June / early July The Appeal Panel will aim to hear all Appeals by this date.
     

 

Formal Appeals

DfES School Admissions Code of Practice DfES Code of Practice for Local Authorities on the management and operation of Admissions
DFeS School Admission Appeals Code of Practice DfES Code of Practice for Local Authorities on the management and operation of Admission Appeals
Precedent for Overruling of School Admission Policy Link to BBC News story about a School Adjudicator ruling that Bradford Education Authority had not given enough thought to the impact of changing from a first preference system to an equal preference system for the selection of school places.
2006 Stats on Appeal Outcomes In 2006 there were 676,420 applications for secondary school places, resulting in 62,750 appeals. Of these appeals 16,340 were successful.
Book : How to Win Your School Appeal: Getting Your Child into the School of Your Choice Book that presumably does what the title says!

 

Admissions Policy

Report from Review of 2007 Admissions Report from Review by Carol Mack looking into the problems that occured with the 2007 Admissions.
2008 Admissions Policy Surrey Admissions Policy for 2008. This has been ratified by Surrey CC but remains subject to variation as a result of objections to the Schools Adjudicator.
Information on School Admissions and Transfers 07/08 (Secondary Schools in Surrey) Surrey County Council advisory booklet on the School Admissions Process for September 2007
LEA Proposal to Change Distance Measurement System for September 2008 Communication from Surrey Admissions and Transport Department to Headteachers and Chairs of Govenors proposing changes to the way that distance to the school is calculated for 2008 admissions.
Consultation on Admissions Arrangements for 2008 Surrey CC communication to Schools consulting on the proposed Admission Arrangements for September 2008. (8/11/06)
Results of Consultation on 2008 Admissions Criteria Report to Surrey CC Executive on the results of the consultation for the 2008 Admissions Criteria.
LEA Confirmation of Surrey School Admissions Policy for 2007 Communication from Surrey CC confirming Admission rules for 2007.
Surrey CC changes Distance Measurement Confirmation of change to distance measurement for 2007 based on legal advice.
Briefing Notes for Surrey County Council Meeting on 06/03/07 Papers submitted to Surrey County Council Committee meeting to make changes to the 2008 Admission arrangements.
Briefing Notes for Surrey County Council Meeting on 09/03/06 Papers submitted to Surrey County Council Committee meeting to make changes to the 2007 Admission arrangements.
Briefing Notes for Surrey CC Meeting on 14/06/05 Papers submitted to Surrey County Council Committee meeting reviewing results of pre-consultation into changes to admission criteria for 2007.
LEA Confirmation of Surrey School Admissions Policy for 2006 Communication from Surrey CC confirming Admission rules for 2006.
Pre-Consultation Survey Survey form sent out as part of the Pre-Consultation into 2007 Admission Policy changes (5/1/05)
Consultation Survey Survey form sent out as part of the main Consultation into 2007 Admission Policy changes (2/11/05)
House of Commons Select Committee Report on Secondary School Admissions Government Select Committee report on Secondary School Admissions, produced in July 2004
DfES White Paper : Higher Standards, Better Schools for All White Paper defining Government policy on Education issues (October 2005)
Howard of Effingham Prospectus 2006 School Prospectus for 2006 - contains Admission Criteria
Howard of Effingham Prospectus 2007 School Prospectus for 2007 - contains Admission Criteria
Christ's College Prospectus Christ's College Prospectus for 2007
Therfield Prospectus Therfield Prospectus for 2007

Admission Numbers

Howard of Effingham Student Numbers

Surrey CC has confirmed that the Howard of Effingham currently has the following number of students on roll in each year (as at April 2007):

Year 7 : 240
Year 8 : 247
Year 9 : 244
Year 10: 245
Year 11: 240

2006 Admissions to the Howard In 2006 the Howard started the year with 244 students in Year 7, 4 more than the PAN.
Precedents for Addition of Extra Classes We are aware that an extra class was added to the Howard of Effingham 10 years ago. Also, Glynn School in Epsom put on an extra class because an area that traditionally got into the school missed out and the parents successfully appealed.
Admission Stats as Estimated by The Raleigh School Estimates made by The Raleigh School regarding numbers of offers, rejections, etc.

 

 

Distance Measurement

Independent Map Measurer An interactive map where you can measure your journey to schools by different routes of your choice. Please ensure you are using www.KeepHorsleyintheHoward.co.uk to access this.
Surrey SMART Online Surrey County Council system which enables you to ascertain how far each school is from your home using the distance meansurement criteria used for school selection
Surrey CC Route Measurer Surrey CC's own interactive Route Measurer, using OS Maps.
Public Transport Route Planner Work out how long it would take to travel to your offered school by Public Transport
Great Ridings Wood Footpath Route This has been mapped by GPS to help people measure the correct route on the Map.
Public Transport Journey from West Horsley to Christ's College A 1 hour 56 minute journey with 40 minutes of walking, 3 changes of transport, leaving at 6:43 a.m.
Footpath cutting off corner of The Street and A246 Shortcut footpath that may shortern some journeys from West Horsley to the Howard.
Grant Application for Horsley - Effingham Cycleway Grant application made by the Cycling Officer of Surrey CC to Sustrans to upgrade Great Ridings Wood footpath to a cycleway as a Links to School project
Distances for Priority 4 admissions Surrey County Council has confirmed (by telephone to Sue Barnes on 20th March) that the offers made to children under Priority 4 (children for whom the school is the nearest) were to children that lived between 0.465km and 4.405km from the school.
Map showing location of Year 6 children appealing and previous catchment areas This map shows the Admission Priority Areas for the last two years, the locations of Year 6 children who are appealing and the locations of the schools offered. (Updated : 07/05/07)

 

School Links

Effingham Learning Partnership Development Plan Aims and Outcomes of the Effingham Learning Partnership, which links The Raleigh and Howard of Effingham Schools.

 

 

Lobbying Links

WritetoThem.com Website where you can write to your MP and Local Councillors
Mtg Notes with Local MP Notes of meeting with Sir Paul Bereford, our local MP.

 

Letters of Objection to/from Third Parties

Letter of Objection from East Horsley Parish Council Letter addressed to the Leader of Surrey County Council objecting to the change in admission to the Howard of Effingham and its effect on the Horsleys.
Letter of Objection from West Horsley Parish Council Letter addressed to the Chairman of Surrey County Council objecting to the change in admission to the Howard of Effingham and its effect on the Horsleys.
Sample Letter of Protest to MP Letter of protest written by Sally Williams that she has offered to be shared with affected parents.
Response Letter from Cllr Jenny Wicks Letter from Guildford Borough Councillor Jenny Wicks in response to a letter from Anthony DeLaney

Response from local MP

 Copy of one of a reply to someone who has written to Sir Paul Beresford.
Response from local MP to letter from children Copy of a reply from Sir Paul Berseford to one of the Raleigh School children
Letter from West Horsley Parent to MP Letter from David Finch.
Letter to Nick Wilson (Manager of Schools and Learning, Surrey CC) Letter from West Horsley resident.
Email from Action Group to Head of Admissions and Transport Email from Anthony Delaney, on behalf of the Action Group and affected parents, outlining the issues and requesting suspension of the Admissons process and a meeting to review what can be done.
Reply from Head of Admissions and Transport to above email Email reply from Paul Mailer to Anthony Delaney
Letter from Headteacher of the Howard Letter from Mrs Barnfield, Headteacher at the Howard, to all Howards parents in the March edition of the Howard "Ship's Log" newletter.
Email from the Surrey CC Admissions and Transport Team Mrs Watts from Surrey CC detailing the offers issued and numbers in the school covering the past 5 years

 

Open Letters and Emails of Support

These can printed and included with Appeal Papers

Lynn Sanders Teacher and long standing West Horsley resident.
Sample Letter of Protest to MP Letter of protest written by Sally Williams that she has offered to be shared with affected parents.
Mrs Charteris-Black East Horsley resident with a child in Year 3 at The Raleigh.
Anthony Delaney Rector of St Mary's Church, West Horsley

 

Presentations

Public Meeting (29th March) : Main Presentation Powerpoint slides from presentation to Public Meeting
Public Meeting (29th March) : Song and Slideshow Video of song and accompanying slideshow presented at the Public Meeting.

 

 

Other Useful Related Links

CASE - Campaign for State Education Charity campaigning for good quality local education for everyone.
CAFIS - Children and Families Information Service Information service for both the public and professionals in Surrey on the services available for children and their families.