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2009 Admissions policy - referred to Schools Adjudicator |
KHitH have recently been informed by the Schools Adjudicator that they will not be investigating further an appeal in connection with the 2009 admission policy for the Howard. The appeal, by the governors of Royal Kent school, related to changes from the 2008 criteria for those children who do not have a sibling already at the Howard.
Surrey County Council’s (“SCC’s”) 2009 admissions policy develops the 2008 admissions policy for non-siblings
The full 2009 admissions policy is set out in “Information On School Admissions and Transfers - Secondary Schools In Surrey 2009/10” which is availlable from SCC’s website as follows: . The admissions arrangements for the Howard can be found on page 18.
SCC's published policy for the Howard develops the 2008 policy by:
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Introducing the requirement that, in order to obtain priority, children have to attend a “partner” school and live in a catchment area (which includes Bookham, Downside, Effingham, Horsley, Ockham and the parts of Fetcham for which the Howard is the nearest school). The catchment area map can be found here:
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Reducing the number of partner schools from six to five (Oakfield, Eastwick, St Lawrence, The Raleigh and The Dawnay). The school that was removed is Royal Kent School in Oxshott. Royal Kent’s governors subsequently objected to the Schools Adjudicator (see below).
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Adding a new priority after this, for children living in the catchment area but not at a partner school.
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Retaining the tiebreaker introduced by the Schools Adjudicator for 2008 admissions (i.e. distance from nearest alternative school) for within the catchment area, but introducing a straight distance tie breaker for those children living outside the catchment area.
KHitH believe that adopting these changes will:
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improve admissions chances of the children living in the Howard catchment area, as children from outside the catchment area but attending partner schools no longer have priority,
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result in a higher likelihood that children who live in the catchment, but who do not attend partner schools, will obtain a place at the Howard.
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increase prioritisation for children living in Fetcham. Once places have been allocated to those living within the catchment area, places will be allocated based on proximity to the school, thereby prioritising children living in Fetcham, as this is the nearest residential area outside of the catchment area.
Appeal to the School’s Adjudicator
The SCC admissions booklet includes reference to the fact that, at the time of printing, the Howard policy was subject to consideration by the School's Adjudicator. This is as a result of an appeal by the governors of Royal Kent School in Oxshott. KHitH was recognised by the Adjudicator as an interested party in Royal Kent’s appeal and wrote to the Adjudicator setting out our views. We have recently been informed by the Adjudicator that Royal Kent's appeal is not being pursued. As the deadline for appeals has now passed, we do not expect any further challenge or change to the 2009 criteria for the Howard.
Next steps
2009 admissions choices need to be submitted to SCC by 24 October. SCC allow on line applications by visiting the SCC web site at:
Our advice on completing admissions forms remains as for 2008 - you should ensure that you put your preferred school as first choice. During the 2008 application process SCC also said it was very important to complete choices for both second and third preferences, otherwise you may not be able to get a place at any of your nearest schools. We understand that some parents of siblings have been advised that this is not necessary in their case, presumably as SCC expect all siblings to get into their first choice school, but our advice would still be to complete all three choices.