Agenda item

Officers provided an update on School Admissions.

The team had recently moved into the Access to Education area, under the Assistant Director for Education and Vulnerable Children. This was within the Education and SEND service area. This allowed a better alignment of services, while promoting closer collaboration on key aspects of education.

A verbal update was given regarding Hewens College, where the number of vacancies in Year 7 was 22, not 55. These vacancies were accurate as of 24 March of the current year.

Officers worked closely with secondary schools to ensure offers were being made. If a child met the Fair Access Protocol, they were presented at monthly meetings and a school was named for them.

Since National Offer Day for Year 7, officers had been chasing parents who had not yet responded to an offer and reminding schools of children who had yet to apply. There are approximately 48 children who still had not applied for a secondary school place.

Two rounds of late offers had taken place so far. The first round had 187 offers and the second round had 58 offers. Offers were made on a fortnightly basis until the summer holidays.

There were over 260 vacancies within the system, equating to 7.1%. 60 places had been added through bulge classes across a small number of schools. Based on projections, this will be the last year that bulge classes will be required for secondary allocations.

Moving on to Reception, National Offer Day was two days prior to the current meeting. Hillingdon had achieved the best in London on first preferences, and best in West London on first to third preferences.

There were a number of schools that had one or more empty classrooms following National Offer Day for September. Officers were in communication with these schools to discuss possibly reducing their PANs formally or repurposing their empty classes.

Officers were praised by the Committee for their hard work.

It was highlighted that Haydon and Harefield schools continually had a high number of unfilled places.

Officers would continue to work closely with secondary schools to ensure offers were being made and children were placed in schools; continue to chase parents who had not responded to an offer and remind schools of children who had yet to apply; continue to make late offers on a fortnightly basis until the summer holidays; communicate with schools that had one or more empty classrooms following National Offer Day for September; and review the situation of Haydon and Harefield schools having many unfilled places.

It was noted that there was a bus that could take children living in Uxbridge to Harefield to school. However, Haydon was identified as a trickier school to get to for children in the south of the borough.

There was an issue of parents listing over-subscribed schools as their first and second preferences, leading to difficulties in securing a place. Officers encouraged parents to be realistic in choosing their preferences and provided information to assist with this.

Clarification was sought on the data, particularly the number of places in Haydon school for Year 7. Officers explained that the number reflected current vacancies and that there has been a shift in places due to various factors, including the location of the school and the number of children moving up through the system.

Waiting lists can vary and were often influenced by Ofsted ratings. There were sometimes difficulties in monitoring waiting lists as many schools managed their own admissions.

A question was raised about spare spaces in some schools and whether classes were being culled, or if there were just very small classes of children. Officers explained that schools were filling their classes up to 30 and then reducing the number of teachers they require.

Officers would continue to encourage parents to be realistic with their school preferences; continue to provide ample information to parents to help them understand the system; monitor the number of vacancies in schools and work closely with schools to fill these vacancies; and regularly review waiting lists to ensure they reflect children who still required a school place.

The Committee discussed the increase in surplus places in Reception compared to the previous year. Officers confirmed that the surplus had increased, but the degree of increase was unknown. The increase was expected due to projections of a reduction in birth rates. Officers had been reducing PANs in primary schools over the last couple of years to manage this.

Officers confirmed they would look into why there were more spaces available in Year 10 and 11 at Swakeleys School compared to Year 7 and 9.

The falling birth rate and its impact on future school places planning were noted. Officers confirmed that the birth rates were dropping and they were looking at reducing PANs. However, there were no plans for schools to be closed. Officers were managing the situation by formally or informally reducing PANs and repurposing empty classrooms for other uses.

Difficulties in finding places in Year 8 were highlighted. Officers acknowledged that there were fewer places available in Year 8 and 9. Officers explained the process of offering school places and the options available to parents if their child did not have access to a school place.

RESOLVED: That the Children, Families and Education Select Committee noted the update.