Parmiters - siblings

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Yves
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: Herts

Parmiters - siblings

Post by Yves »

Can anyone tell me:

1) Are the younger siblings of this latest intake (for Sept 2008) still covered by the siblings rule?

2) If so, for how long will the siblings rule be likely to be retained?

3) Will having a sibling in the 6th form count?

We have a big age gap, and my heart quails at the thought of going through all this again in 6 years time.....
WP
Posts: 1331
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Re: Parmiters - siblings

Post by WP »

Yves wrote:Can anyone tell me:

1) Are the younger siblings of this latest intake (for Sept 2008) still covered by the siblings rule?

2) If so, for how long will the siblings rule be likely to be retained?
No one knows the answer to these questions, I'm afraid. The mechanism by which it can be changed is: a local school or 10 parents object to the arrangements that the school publishes each year. An adjudicator considers the objection and either upholds it and makes a change, or rejects it, in which case the same objection cannot be made in the following year. We don't know if anyone will lodge an objection (but over 6 years it's certainly a possibility). We don't know how the adjudicator will interpret the obscure wording of the Admissions Code.
Yves wrote:3) Will having a sibling in the 6th form count?

We have a big age gap, and my heart quails at the thought of going through all this again in 6 years time.....
On current rules, yes it will, as long as the sibling will still be at the school when the younger one starts.
Yves
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: Herts

Post by Yves »

Thank you for that info.
Do you know whether an objection to this sibling rule was raised and upheld or rejected last year then, as this may give a clue as to what may apply to the Sept 2008 intake?
watford87
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:37 pm
Location: Watford

Post by watford87 »

I haven't seen Parmiters proposed admission rules for Sept 2009 entry but the Watford Grammars did publish theirs and anyone could comment up to 1st March. In these the sibling and cross-sibling rule was to be retained.
WP
Posts: 1331
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Post by WP »

Yves wrote:Do you know whether an objection to this sibling rule was raised and upheld or rejected last year then, as this may give a clue as to what may apply to the Sept 2008 intake?
The wording about siblings was introduced with the new Admissions Code, which came into force in Feb 2007, but a government concession explicitly protected siblings of children admitted last year. Thus there was nothing to gain from an objection last year and no objections were lodged.

Objectors would have to claim that they were adversely affected by a school's sibling rule. That would seem to rule out other secondary schools and more distant primary schools, which have in the past objected to partial selection at these schools. Local primary schools could claim they were affected, but each of them gets a few (and in some cases more than a few) children into these schools each year, so there would probably not be unanimous support for an objection from their parents. The county council could object, but they'd have similar difficulties. Reading the list of possible objectors in section 4.17 of the Admissions Code, it seems that there is no provision for parents to object on the grounds of non-compliance with a "should" clause, like that governing siblings (2.21).

So perhaps this Sword of Damocles is not so likely to fall.
Yves
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: Herts

Post by Yves »

Not just yet, perhaps. Six years is a long time to keep looking up though......sigh....

Thank you very much for all that detail and analysis. Your knowlege on this topic is most impressive, and you have saved me much work.
Yves
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: Herts

Post by Yves »

Not just yet, perhaps. Six years is a long time to keep looking up though......sigh....

Thank you very much for all that detail and analysis. Your knowlege on this topic is most impressive, and you have saved me much work.
Yves
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: Herts

Post by Yves »

Not just yet, perhaps. Six years is a long time to keep looking up though......sigh....

Thank you very much for all that detail and analysis. Your knowlege on this topic is most impressive, and you have saved me much work.
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Post by tense »

I was at a school meeting at Parmiter's on Wednesday night & the head was asked about the siblings rule. He said that there is no change whatsoever to the siblings rule this year (ie for entry in Sept 2009). I do not know whether the admissions rules have been published & the date for objecting gone, but this is what he said.

The head also said that Parmiter's strongly believes that children from the same family should have the opportunity to go to school together and that the school would fight hard to retain their siblings policy if necessary.
Marylou
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Post by Marylou »

Yves wrote:Not just yet, perhaps. Six years is a long time to keep looking up though......sigh....

Thank you very much for all that detail and analysis. Your knowlege on this topic is most impressive, and you have saved me much work.
Yves - keep a careful eye on how things go with this. Bucks CC changed its ruling on this very point the year after my eldest started at a grammar school (we are OOC) and we now have a battle on our hands to get second daughter into the school next year even if she qualifies, as older one will be in 6th form when she is due to start and is not counted as a sibling. :evil: So this kind of hassle can and DOES happen! From what the head said, you should be OK - unfortunately our GS is not a foundation school so has to do as it's told by BCC. :roll:

Best of luck

Marylou
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