Just got in from adjudicator's meeting.

[doodles]

Was Mr Fallon there and did he say anything?

[Blue Peter]

I presume the gist of what everyone was saying was the same as what is said on here? Was there anything interesting said which stood out?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated for those of us that wanted to attend but were unable.

No, not really. It was the same arguments which are heard on this forum all the time.

Objectors: It's not fair that Kent Children lose out on grammar school places to OOC.

People for the current systen (non-objectors?!) 1) Don't introduce a catchment area as that will lead to a small radius around each school, as per TWGGs, and house prices will be pushed up; ii) Selection should be by academic ability to maintain the high academic standards within the schools.iii) The current system gives all children an equal chance regardless of where they live.

BTW. The woman from KCC said that there is more a less an equal amount of Kent children who travel out of Kent as ther are OCC coming into Kent. She also said education is financed by central governmment, so Kent tax payers aren't financing the OCC's.

[Blue Peter]

Was Mr Fallon there and did he say anything?

Yes he was there. He did make the very valid point that the best way of resolving the problem would be to build new grammar schools. Someone urged him to pursue this though we all know that woud never happen. He said he deals with lots of disappointed familes every year and that it needs to be resolved, but he wasn't too pushy as I think he realised that most people in the hall didn't necessarily want the boundaries re-drawn in favour of Sevenoaks.

[Flybynight]

Hi, Yes I also attended the meeting. I also spoke to the adjudicator afterwards who did confirm that he was only able to make a statement on Year 2011 entrants!!! So my daughter sitting her 11+ this week is potentially affected. The deadline for comments is next Friday and a decision will be made 3 weeks after that. The adjudicator's decision is purely based on legalities a
nd what he deems to be 'fair'.

Basically options mooted were a very tight 'catchment area' around the schools which assuming that they are similar to TWIGs would mean only 2 miles from the school. Not fair I believe.

Some parents objected to OOC which in the case of Skinners was only 1/2 mile from the school!! KCC informed those present that they were required by law to offer some places OOC. Actually apparently far more places are offered in Surrey, Essex and Sussex to Kent children than places in Kent to OOC!!!

Personally I believe that the current system is fairer than a tight catchment area around the school.

[mystery]

I wanted to go to the meeting but could not, so it's good to be able to read people's reports of the event.

I'm pretty sure I have got this round, but I'm sure that when I spoke to someone at the Office for the Schools' Adjudicator the week before last (not the case manager) they said that when these meetings are held they usually have more objectors to the school admissions policies at them than supporters.

Now I know that numbers either way are not what matters, it's the quality of the argument, and ultimately what that particular adjudicator considers to be fair. But it does puzzle me that at this particular meeting it sounds as though the supporters of the policies exceeded the objectors to the superselective admissions policy.

Does anyone know a bit more history to all this? How did Kent successfully retain its 11+ system when most other counties went comprehensive? Also, are most grammar schools in Kent Foundation Status? If so, could they have their own entrance test? Is it for reasons of economy that they all use the Kent test which is in some way administered by KCC? Do the schools pay KCC?

[bingybongy]

I was there - sitting just behind the Sevenoaks contingent. As the meeting went on you could see their faces dropping as they realised that any change in favour of "West Kent" was just going to be disadvantaging parents who lived closer to the schools than they did! Also, the KCC looked like a right bunch of idiots who couldn't summarise their objections concisely. I think they have wasted council tax payers money pursuing this when an adjudication was made last year that the arrangements are legal currently. The vast majority of attendees supported the current system.

[dadofkent]

Basically options mooted were a very tight 'catchment area' around the schools which assuming that they are similar to TWIGs would mean only 2 miles from the school. Not fair I believe.

So why is the implementation of a system that is amost universal throughout the rest of Kent, and indeed the Country, unfair?

[SSM]

I'm not aware of other GSs in Kent having such a close catchment area.

I think if the admissions criteria for the three schools were to change to distance, then over a number of years their catchment area might expand.But due to the schools reputation and geographic location, for the next few years the catchment will be very tight. Thus the very same people that wish to implement the new admissions criteria will lose out.

[omg]

I think it's only Tunny Wells Boys that goes purely on distance. TWGGS has siblings, distance and score (governors places). This is clearly a total botch of a system and I'm amazed that this isn't under review as well. WOK has a regional policy going from Tonbridge before leap frogging to Sevenoaks before then jumping back to the surrounding villages which are much closer than Sevenoaks! Aren't these 2 admission policies much more dubious than the 3 schools under review?

[kentsussexborder]

Does anyone have a summary of exactly what KCC's objections were/are? Did they provide anything written?

I couldn't make the meeting so thank you to those who have reported back.

Interesting to note that Kent is a net exporter of pupils, rather than an importer!