Agenda item

The Sub-Committee will receive details about the School Admissions Procedures, the Schools Expansion Programme and its progress.

Information will be provided on the “Not in Education, Employment and Training” (NEET) as well as the Raising of Participation Age.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation on the progress relating to the School Admissions Procedures and Schools Expansion Programme.

The report stated that in Havering, an additional 2,700 permanent Primary school places had been created in all year groups from 2011/12 - 2015/16. The borough had experienced the largest netflow across all London boroughs. 

The School Admissions Code was the statutory guidance for Admission Authorities, Governing bodies, Local Authorities, schools adjudicators and admission appeals panels.  The purpose of the Code was to ensure that all school places for schools including Academies were allocated and offered in an open and fair way.  The Code had the force of law and imposed mandatory requirements on Local Authorities.

All schools had admission arrangements that clearly outlined how children would be admitted, including the criteria that would be applied if there were more applications than places at the school.

Admission Authorities were to set (‘determine’) admission arrangements annually.  Where changes were proposed to admission arrangements, the admission authority must have first publicly consulted on those arrangements.  The consultation period allowed parents, other schools, religious authorities and the local community to raise any concerns about the proposed admission arrangements.

Once all arrangements have been determined, arrangements can be objected to and referred to the Schools Adjudicator.  Any decision of the Adjudicator must be acted on by the Admission Authority and admission arrangements amended accordingly. The Local Authority collated and published all the admission arrangements in the area in a single composite prospectus.

In the normal admissions round, parents applied to the Local Authority in which they lived for places at their preferred schools, parents were able to express a preference for at least three schools and up to six. 

A National offer day for notification this year for secondary transfer was the 1 March while the 16 April would be for primary school offers.

The Sub-Committee questioned the appropriateness of the mail out time for notifications. Currently the time was 17:00, whereas some authorities mailed out at 12:00.

The Sub-Committee noted that a draft Commissioning Plan for Education Provision approved by Cabinet in March 2015 was consulted on across the borough between April and  June 2015 to gather the views from education providers, residents, parents and other stakeholders on proposals that would help address the needs identified.  There were a total of 824 completed questionnaires, of which over 700 were completed online.

The consultation survey responses had helped to inform the approach to expand existing schools where possible with the options to also explore free school.

The report highlighted that overall 80% of all respondents agreed with the principles that guided the commissioning proposals, based on the consultation the final Commissioning Plan for Education Provision was approved in August 2015 and this had formed the basis of the recommendations in the November 2015 Cabinet Report.

The Sub-Committee was informed that each expansion proposal would need to answer positively to the following statements before the statutory processes could commence:

•      The school could be expanded as there was scope to create additional accommodation on site

•      The school was located accessibly to where there was an increased pressure on places                             

•      The school was educationally secure and resilient with the capacity to manage a significant increase in size without adverse impacts on standards 

•      There was a clear aspiration on the part of the school to manage the expansion  

•      The expansion would provide good value for money.

Once decided, the Statutory Consultation process would run parallel to any planning applications.  The Statutory Notice would then be published following a successful planning permission was obtained.  

The School Provision & Commissioning Manager informed that Sub-Committee that in 2015, the Government increased the age to which all young people in England must continue in education or training; requiring them to continue until their 18th birthday from 2015.

Young people had a choice about how they continued in education or training post-16, which could be through full-time study in a school, college or with a training provider; or full-time work or volunteering (20 hours) combined with part-time education or training; or an apprenticeship or traineeship scheme.

It was noted that most young people continued in education or training after they finish Year 11, because it gave them the best chance to get the skills and qualifications that employers and universities required.  The report however mentioned that the small group of young people not participating included some of the most vulnerable.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the Local Authority had an existing duty that encouraged, enabled and assisted young people to participate in education or training which still applied. 

It was mentioned that tracking young people’s participation was a key element of these duties. Local Authorities were required to collect information about all young people so that those who were not participating, or are NEET, could be identified and given support to re-engage.

Local Authorities were required to have arrangements in place that provided information on all young people’s current activity at regular intervals. This may be through the exchange of information with education and training providers, and other services within the local authority area such as Youth Offending teams and Jobcentre Plus, as well as through direct contact with young people.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the strategic priorities for post-16 were

• The continued support in the growth in participation of 16 year olds staying in education, monitoring participation rates and trends.
• The increase in the number of 17 year olds participating in education and training, that made a positive transition from year 12 to 13.
• The increase in the range and quality of Traineeships and Apprenticeships opportunities available across all levels.
• To promote participation of all 14-19 year olds particularly those most vulnerable and ensure that appropriate mix and balance of provision was available for all Havering residents, particularly those in vulnerable groups.

The partnership in Havering between colleges and schools, where the colleges guaranteed places for suitably qualified applicants had proved to be valuable in ensuring places for young people in Havering.

However, the number of Year 11 leavers was projected to decline slightly until 2017/18, and then followed by a significant rise in 2018/19 and years beyond as Havering was a high net importer of learners and the combination of increased future residents and school population would impact on the provision required.

The issue for providers was therefore more about responding to changes in demand, including managing changes in the balance of the types of provision required by the group of young people.

Officers stated that the Local 14+ Progression and Transition Partnership was critical for the successful delivery of RPA and it needed to be inclusive and robust, with a clear understanding of the requirements of young people and a commitment to put their needs at the heart of its decision-making processes.

The Partnership’s guiding principles were for increased participation in education or training, in a personalised model that entailed provision of an inclusive and engaging experience for all young people. The principles also included Performance; to improved standards and increased levels of achievements and progression; that ensured every young person has meaningful access to employment, training or further or higher education.

The operational arm of the Havering Learning Partnership was the collegiate group that was constituted by its various sub-groups, such as    the 16/18 Performance Group, Apprenticeship Provider Forum, NEET Partnership and North East London Cluster. 

In response to an enquiry on the planned changes to the over subscriptions criteria, the Sub-Committee was informed that the Government was about to consult on amendments to the current School Admissions code.  It was expected that the consultation would include proposal to change the arrangements for summer born children, and how siblings and pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium were dealt with within the code and over-subscription criteria.

It was stated that some Local Authorities had already made changes to their sibling criteria and added in a sibling plus distance criteria to ensure that only siblings still living within a pre-determined area still receive a higher priority.

The Sub-Committee NOTED the report.