|
KHitH dispels myths - don't believe everything you read in the press |
Howard admissions arrangements causing unnecessary concerns
KHitH has been particularly concerned about some of the statements being made about admission to the Howard and would like to dispel some of the myths that are circulating that are unnecessarily upsetting many parents and children.
MP mitigates parents’ concerns
KHitH are satisfied that for 2008 admissions, Horsley children will be able to continue to attend the Howard, their nearest school, and Bookham and Effingham children will continue to obtain places and thus continue to walk or cycle there.
In December representatives from the Bookham and Fetcham action group attended a meeting with both KHitH and SCC to better understand the likely outcome of 2008 admissions. This meeting also enabled SCC to listen to parents’ concerns, their suggestions for improvement and to review the initial results of the 2008 admissions process. SCC also held meetings with local councillors and the area’s MP, Sir Paul Beresford, to brief them on the status of the 2008 Howard of Effingham admissions situation following initial processing of applications from parents.
Following his meeting with SCC, Sir Paul replied to every parent who had written to him on the issue of Howard admissions from the Horsley, Bookham, Effingham, and Fetcham communities. Sir Paul confirmed that all or nearly all applicants from SCC partner schools who have put the Howard as their first preference should be offered places in September 2008.
KHitH are therefore surprised that it is still being reported that the Schools Adjudicator’s decision, setting the 2008 policy, does not allow children from Bookham, Fetcham and Effingham into the school.
Effect of 2008 Admissions Policy
The 2008 admission policy prioritises (after siblings and looked after children) children at six partner schools in Bookham, Effingham, Fetcham, Horsley and Oxshott. In the event of oversubscription from applicants from these schools, priority is then given to children who would otherwise have to travel the furthest to their nearest alternative school. This is intended to avoid the 2007 situation recurring.
Using the indications of 2008 applications and its own research, KHitH believes :
· the effect of the 2008 policy is to allocate the 240 Howard places to children at the partner schools for whom the Howard is their nearest school. In practice, this means children at partner schools living in Bookham, Effingham and Horsley should be allocated places first. The number of pupils at the schools from these three areas is a good match for the number of places available, and the effect of siblings from outside this area should be offset by those known to be applying to other schools.
· concerns that children from Horsley, Ockham Cobham, Oxshott and Gomshall may prevent children from Effingham and Bookham obtaining places are ill-founded . For 2007 Horsley applications are similar to levels from previous years, and Horsley children have always been allocated in the region of 60 places at the Howard, so there should be no change to prior admissions patterns. Applications from Cobham, Oxshott, and Ockham seem particularly low under the new policy and so ought not have a significant impact. There are also not believed to be any partner school applications from Gomshall. So parents from Bookham, Effingham and Horsley with children at partner schools should not be concerned; all are likely to obtain places.
· Children in Oxshott and nearly all of Fetcham are nearer to other schools, including Therfield in Leatherhead. They may, however, obtain places at the Howard if there are still spaces available after higher priority children have been allocated places.
2009 Policy Consultation
The key change in the proposed 2009 policy is to remove the partner school prioritisation and instead prioritise admission for children for whom the school is nearest. The effect will be similar to that in 2008, but gives equal priority to local children attending other maintained schools or independent schools. KHitH fought for this change in policy, as they considered that excluding local children (whether they were in Bookham, Effingham or Horsley) who were not at a partner school, was unjust.
KHitH is pleased that the effect of SCC’s proposed admissions criteria for 2009 will ensure that, as far as possible, the future catchment area for the school closely replicates that which has traditionally fed into the Howard,. ensuring that priority is given to Bookham, Effingham and Horsley children, and that in some years children from parts of Cobham, Downside, Fetcham and Ockham would also gain places, as was the case in previous years under the old "Admission Priority Area" , the operation of which established the status quo until 2007.
For these reasons KHitH has confirmed that it fully supports the SCC 2009 proposal for Howard of Effingham admissions. Our work is not yet complete, however, as we remain focused on:
1. Assisting parents and other stakeholders to respond positively to the public consultation by SCC on 2009 admissions policy, which closes on 31 January.
2. Continuing to work with SCC on 2009 admissions (ie current year 5 children) as this is a high birth rate year for the area. Hence careful attention will continue to need to be applied for 2009 admissions to ensure a fair outcome is attained for all children for whom the Howard is the nearest school.
Schools Adjudicator, judicial review and parliamentary ombudsman
KHitH also wants local residents to be fully informed about the processes that have led to these developments in SCC’s admissions policies for the Howard. To facilitate this, our website has links to key documents here.
The website includes a transcript of the judgement from Mr Justice Sullivan here, the High Court judge who reviewed the Bookham and Fetcham action group’s application for a judicial review of the School’s Adjudicator’s decision on the 2008 policy. The judge did not focus purely on the timescale taken to bring the case. He also looked at the potential wider impact of holding up the 2008 applications process while a review was carried out and made observations on the merits of the case. The judgement shows that:
· He agreed with SCC’s view that there would be many more people adversely affected if he allowed the admissions process in Surrey to be delayed by a judicial review, and that this was particularly undesirable given that SCC are already consulting widely on proposed 2009 applications policy.
· In his observations on the merits of the case, which argued that the adjudicator had not consulted sufficiently widely on the impact of his policy decision, the judge noted that there were arguments for and against the 2008 admissions policy determined by the Schools Adjudicator and that these, along with community impact, had clearly been taken into account in the adjudicator’s determination. The judge also referred to the fact that two County Councillors, representing Bookham and Fetcham, "were present and contributed to the discussions." The judge therefore considered that the fact the procedural unfairness of inadequate consultation was at best no more than just arguable it "did not outweigh the powerful reasons for refusing permission.
Given the timing of the application and the facts, the judge felt sufficiently strongly to take the highly unusual step of rejecting the application for judicial review based on a review of the papers alone.
KHitH is also in liaison with Sir Paul Beresford, who has confirmed that, if the Bookham and Fetcham action group formally request him to make a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, he has a statutory duty to pass their complaint on. Sir Paul has stressed the importance of all stakeholders participating in the public consultation on the 2009 policy.