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2010 Admissions Public Meeting

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:42 pm
by Dadof3
I have just received a 'Special Issue' Newsletter from RHS informing parents that a public meeting is planned to discuss 2010 admissions arrangements in light of objections received from "a group of Warwickshire parents" and NAF.

Meeting details as follows:

Date: Fri 11-Sept-09
Time: Start 18:00, doors open 17:30
Venue: The Temple Speech Room at Rugby School
Access: First come first served

"Dr Passmore will be meeting with representatives of all the Rugby grammar schools and with the objectors. She has indicated that she would also like to have the opportunity to meet with the public (including parents and students) to gauge their views on admissions to the Rugby grammar schools. The objectors and the schools will be given an opportunity to state their case and then the public will have a chance to have their say."

Note: I am unable to paste a link as the document does not appear on RHS website and I am not able to insert a document.

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:53 pm
by Ed's mum
Thanks for that Dadof3. I cannot believe that things are so up in the air still, considering our offspring are about to sit the test.

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:14 am
by fed up
Here it is:

Admissions Arrangements for 2010
As you know, the school was required by the Schools Adjudicator to review its Admissions Arrangements ‘so
as to significantly reduce’ their impact on admissions to the schools in Northamptonshire. The school’s
governors did this and published draft arrangements in December 2008. The draft arrangements proposed
that initial offers (awarded on the basis of performance in the 11+) should be confined to children living in East
Warwickshire. These draft arrangements were subsequently amended in response to the consultation which
was held on them. The final published arrangements involve a compromise: 50% of initial places being
awarded on the basis of performance in the 11+ to children living in the old priority circle (which includes East
Warwickshire) and the remaining 50% to children living in East Warwickshire.
During the last week of term the school learned that its Admissions Arrangements for 2010 had been the
subject of an objection lodged by a group of Warwickshire parents. The objection is long and complex. The
key points are that the objectors claim that the consultation in response to the Admissions Arrangements was
unlawful and that the Admission Arrangements are unlawful because they reverse the Adjudicator’s ruling and
are unfair. The school contests both of these claims. A week after the end of term we learned that a second
objection had been received from Northamptonshire Admissions Forum which is questioning whether the
changes that have been made ‘fall in line with the spirit’ of the adjudicator’s ruling. The Office of the Schools
Adjudicator has appointed Dr Elizabeth Passmore to act as adjudicator in these matters.
Public Meeting on Admissions Friday 11th September 6.00pm
Dr Passmore will be meeting with representatives of all the Rugby grammar schools and with the objectors on
Friday 11th September. She has indicated that she would also like to have an opportunity to meet with the
public (including parents and students) to gauge their views on admissions to the Rugby grammar schools.
The public meeting which will be held in The Temple Speech Room at Rugby School and will start at
6.00pm (doors open at 5.30pm). Access is on a first come first served basis. The objectors and the schools
will be given an opportunity to state their case and then the public will have a chance to have their say.
We understand that notices will be placed in the local press about this meeting and we wanted to make you
aware of it at the earliest opportunity. We know how important an issue this is to you and we think it is
important that those of you who wish to comment have an opportunity to do so.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, or you would prefer to put your comments in writing to the adjudicator,
then please do so to:
Martin Clark
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator
Mowden Hall
Staindrop Road
Darlington
DL3 9BG
C. Marten P. Reaney
Headteacher Chair of Governors

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:31 pm
by Dadof3
The silence from Warks Forum members on this and other issues is deafening! Is there anybody out there whom has knowledge of, or supports the Warwickshire objectors? Is anybody prepared to put their head above the parapet and explain their rationale for objecting and continuing this protracted and distressing saga? Anybody care to elaborate on the “unlawful Admissions arrangementsâ€

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:36 pm
by Ed's mum
Hi Dadof3. I can totally understand your frustration.

This area of the forum has been particularly quiet this year. We seem to have lost some regulars, or they read but no longer post. I cannot really comment as I am OOC but desperately trying to get into catchment. I feel certain that I shall attend the meeting.

Best wishes to your son, I really feel for families who have had older children gain places but can no longer afford the same guarantee for younger siblings. You have my total sympathy.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:47 pm
by fed up
Hear hear Dad of 3. Could not agree with you more.
I would also very much like to know what these "unlawful admissions arrangements" are meant to be.
I think we all know that the 50% deal was unlawful in that it did not comply with the Greenwich judgement and used the county boundary as a distinction (however WCC dressed it up). However, the Warks/Rugby parents would have got many more places from this arrangement, so you're right, it does seem selfish to complain.
Of course, the adjudicator could decide to remove the catchment area altogether and open up the schools to anyone who could get their child there. It works for many grammar schools. Coventry's a big place, and only 10 minutes by train from LS.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:04 pm
by Dadof3
Ed's Mum,
I appreciate your sentiments and wish you the best of luck with your impending move into catchment.

I trust you will not be upsetting any Eastern Area dwellers by increasing the competion by one!!

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:05 pm
by Ed's mum
I fear I may upset one or two! :mrgreen:

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:30 am
by WP
Don't forget that there are three admissions authorities involved here: RHS, LSS and WCC (for Ashlawn). This is only a summary of the objections to RHS, but the adjudicator will consider objections to all three together, as they're so closely related. NAF will have made the same objection to all three, but parents will have objected to the school they hope their child will get into. The report in the Coventry Telegraph mentions objections from Northamptonshire parents in addition to NAF.

Last year, Dr Passmore was the adjudicator dealing with objections to two partially selective schools in Hertfordshire. She held a public meeting on 2nd September, at which all sides got to say their piece -- it was a rather fraught atmosphere. We got a clear idea of the objections, but she didn't give anything away about her own views. She issued her decision of 26th September, upholding one objection and denying the other. She prescribed changes in the schools' arrangements, and protected them for 3 years. This was less than a month before the CAF deadline, and quite a few parents had their plans turned upside down.

The timing will also be tight in the Warks case. Adjudicators are only allowed to modify the arrangements presented for the current cycle (though if they do, they can then protect them for up to 3 years). As I understand it, last year the adjudicator decided to uphold NAF's objection, and wanted to alter the arrangements for 2009, but was persuaded by WCC that it was too disruptive to do this at that late stage. By law he could not prescribe the arrangements for later years, so he ended up giving a purely advisory ruling, which WCC have interpreted in their own way. For that to happen twice would look like carelessness.

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:28 pm
by guest201
As a parent who lives in Rugby, where one of our secondary schools has been closed and as a result there are not enough secondary school places for the children of the area maybe I can shed a bit of light on why Rugby parents are objecting now. People find it quite unfair that children come from outside the county to school in Rugby, where there is a shortage of secondary school places. The knock on effect of this is that children from Rugby who want to go to school in Rugby (which is not an unreasonable request) end up being allocated a school in Coventry. Secondly the original consultation was very one sided, it was very publisized in Northampton and not much in Rugby (which is quite normal as you are always much more passionate when you are against something than when you are in favour). Maybe you could look at the problem from the perspective of the young child who instead of being able to go to the school up the road with their friends has to go to a school in Coventry because of lack of places in Rugby. Also you can imagine, it wouldnt be the best school in Coventry that was allocated. I dont think it is a case of Warwickshire parents being selfish, everyone is looking out for their own childrens best interests.