Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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MrsChubbs
Posts: 363
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: High Wycombe

Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by MrsChubbs »

Anyone in the catchment area for this school for the future should have a look at the documents under admissions on their website. They are, I believe, the first academy to publish a proposed change to their current arrangements. Basically the catchment area is likely to go way out towards Marlow and Great Missenden and they are looking at introducing a banding allocation based on VRT scores.
Very interesting reading. I wonder what the grammars are pondering on...........
(I don't know anything, just in case you are wondering!)
Mrs C
scary mum
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Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by scary mum »

Interesting - presumably it means that anyone who wants to go there will have to sit the 11 plus, whereas before they could have opted out. As you say, it will be interesting to see what the grammars will do. Did this school say they wouldn't make any changes before they became an academy?
scary mum
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by Etienne »

It's unlikely the 11+ would become compulsory! :)

I see that under their in-year admissions policy they say "Pupils applying for In-Year Admission will always have to sit a test if they don’t have a VRT score," so I would have thought it quite possible this could apply also to admissions at the normal point of entry.

There's no precise correlation between different tests, of course, but I assume they just need to know in broad terms which ability band a pupil would fit into.
Etienne
MrsChubbs
Posts: 363
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: High Wycombe

Re: Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by MrsChubbs »

I can't remember anything specific about changing their admissions policy. Most of the academy info I saw for various schools before their changeover was very low key in this area, making reassuring noises about nothing but change for the positive. It will be an interesting debate because there will be some that argue a banding approach is fairer than distance from door, but there will others who will feel aggrieved if they live nearby and don't get a place due too many children being in one band. Not sure if this would happen in practice as I don't have any idea about the population by child ability.
But it does lead to some interesting ideas, eg. would RGS/ DCGS decide to accept children above the qualifying score by bands, top 25% etc etc or maybe they would rather only boys from the top quartile? Nothing to stop them now I suppose.
Suet33
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:45 pm

Re: Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by Suet33 »

Round and round we go ... back to the days of 'Grant Maintained Schools' who were allowed to set their own admissions policies (and when RGS and DCGS DID indeed take the top marks rather than thost living nearest!!!).

Could cause a few problems with the new transport policy too - if you don't get into Highcrest and it's your nearest school then presumably, under the current proposals, you would have to pay your own transport costs to which ever school you are given!?!? Maybe someone should take that bull by the horns while there is still the opportunity for some consultation on the transport issue!!!???
Sally-Anne
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Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Highcrest academy - consultation on admissions from 2013

Post by Sally-Anne »

MrsChubbs wrote:They are, I believe, the first academy to publish a proposed change to their current arrangements.
And they are likely to be the only one going this route! I gather that these proposals have - unsurprisingly - been very unpopular with Heads of Uppers in the area, and also further afield. Apparently they also came as a very unpleasant shock, because they were much more sweeping than the original outline plan that the school put out.

I am told that their objections are pretty similar to the issues mentioned already on this thread - cannibalisation of catchment areas, applying a further layer of academic entrance criteria within the two tier system, transport (logistics and costs).

I think I will be reading up on this much more closely ... :roll:
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