Agenda item

(Item 7 – report of Mr Mike Whiting, Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills and Patrick Leeson, Corporate Director for Education, Learning and Skills)

Cabinet received a report detailing the outcome of the consultation on the proposed admission arrangements and scheme for transfer to Primary and Secondary schools in 2014 and the proposed process for non-co-ordinated In-Year admissions.  The report contained recommendations for acceptance and approval, dependant on the status of the schools concerned, for the In-Year admission process, the admission arrangements for the 2014/15 school year and the co-ordinated schemes for Primary and Secondary Admissions in Kent.

The Cabinet Member for Education Learning and Skills introduced the report and drew the attention of Cabinet to the following salient points:

(i)        That this report fulfilled an annual statutory requirement and aimed to co-ordinate school admissions for all state maintained schools in the County.

(ii)       That the environment within which school places were now planned had become more complex, however the Council was still responsible for the co-ordination of those places.  The scheme had been successful to date with improved results for children and parents in Kent

The Corporate Director of Education, Learning and Skills, Patrick Leeson, at the request of the Leader, focused on the changes between the document for consideration and the previous scheme.  He reported the changes below:

(i)        He confirmed that Cabinet was required to approve the admission arrangements for voluntary and controlled schools and to determine the co-ordinated scheme for the County.  All schools had agreed to be part of the scheme.

(ii)       That the document this year included for the first time the creation of a link between Thurnham Infant School and Roseacre Junior School in order that those children that had attended the infant school would have priority at Roseacre, on the same site.  A proposal to create a catchment area had been strongly opposed and therefore not progressed, however the Director recommended that it be kept under review and should it be necessary a statutory consultation be undertaken.

The Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, Mrs Whittle, spoke to the item, she made the following comments:

(i)        In relation to Thurman Infant School; the expansion of the near-by St John’s school had been welcomed by residents.  However dwellings in the area continued to be subject to expansion in order to create enlarged family homes.  This year four Bearstead families and two Thurnam families did not get in to local schools.  This was an improvement on last year, down by two thirds.

(ii)       That consultation undertaken should be conducted again as in the previous exercise only parents of children at the schools had been included and not those parents with children at the preschool. She argued that a public meeting was needed regarding the creation of a priority area and its potential location. There was continued anxiety in Bearstead Park about such a plan but the data when investigated showed that those parents most concerned would still have been preferred.

(iii)      That the changes to the scheme which related to priority for children in care or who had been adopted was welcomed particularly in light of the work that the council had conducted to strengthen its adoption services

The Leader assured Mrs Whittle that any proposal to introduce a catchment, or priority, area would be fully consulted upon.

Mr Gordon Cowan, Leader of the Labour Group spoke to the item.  He recognised that this was a difficult task and thanked officers and members for the work done to improve the situation.  However he raised the issue of extra places, where need was identified, being provided by faith schools and asked Cabinet to look again at the implications of this on local communities.

The Leader recognised the importance of the comment made by the Labour Group Leader.  He referred to negotiations that had been ongoing with the diocese to establish quotas on religious preference that were both sensible and fair so that religious preference could be recognised without detriment to local children, not of that faith, who wished to attend their nearest school

Mr Leeson, Corporate Director of Education, Learning and Skills reported that discussions continued with the arch diocese to achieve what the Leader had described.  Currently the percentages of children practising the religion of the faith school which they attended varied greatly across the County.

The Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills reminded Cabinet that where the admissions arrangements of a faith school were legal the council had no authority to insist that they were amended.  Discussion being pursued relied on the use of persuasion and influence, but it was hoped that negotiations would be successful.

Dan Daley, representing the Liberal Democrat Group, spoke to the item.  He agreed with comments made previously that the landscape in which education was being delivered was much changed from that which had existed, and was more complex in its nature.  The delivery of education had become fractured between different types of schools with different governance arrangements.  Whilst accepting the difficult nature of the task he expressed concern that there would not be sufficient places for children in primary schools in the county over the next 5-10 years.  In particular he noted the need to provide infrastructure such as schools to support housing developments and the Government demand for growth.  He requested that this issue be considered further.

The Leader concurred that planning and development were relevant issues and while infrastructure planning for large scale developments was more obvious small scale ‘windfall’ developments had in some areas increased the housing population by between 12 and 14%.  These types of development were more difficult to predict and the cumulative impact more difficult to identify and therefore remained a challenge for the council in terms of strategic planning.

Mr Whiting agreed and reported that this message had been conveyed, and would continue to be conveyed, to Locality Boards and District Councils.  In addition to this work the council was preparing a bid for monies set aside by central government for the basic need programme.  These and the various methods described during the discussion would, he argued, position the council for successful provision planning for the future.

At the request of the Leader, Mr Bagshaw, Head of Admissions and Transport reported that the figures for both Primary and Secondary admissions of parents securing their 1^st and 2^nd choices had improved year on year for the last 3 years.  Mr Leeson reported that approximately 88% of parents secured their 1^st choice and approx 92% either their first or second

It was RESOLVED:

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