adams grammar admissions proposal

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Wolves mum
Posts: 251
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 11:07 am

adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Wolves mum »

AGS has a new proposal for admissions 2015/16, which basically states children are offered places in the following order:

priority 1 Children in care

2 Children on low income/ free school dinners

3 children living in Newport

4 children who have the highest scores

Just wondering if any one has any idea/suggestion as to what this would mean with regards to the lowest score needed to get in if you don't meet criteria 1-3.
Also do you think they will take having siblings already at the school into consideration?

I know no one will have definitive answers but opinions will be welcome
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Sally-Anne »

Wolves mum wrote:Also do you think they will take having siblings already at the school into consideration?
If siblings aren't mentioned in the Admissions Policy, they cannot give them priority.
Happy dad
Posts: 482
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:10 am

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Happy dad »

Wolves mum wrote:AGS has a new proposal for admissions 2015/16, which basically states children are offered places in the following order:

priority 1 Children in care

2 Children on low income/ free school dinners

3 children living in Newport

4 children who have the highest scores

Just wondering if any one has any idea/suggestion as to what this would mean with regards to the lowest score needed to get in if you don't meet criteria 1-3.
Also do you think they will take having siblings already at the school into consideration?

I know no one will have definitive answers but opinions will be welcome
It doesn't actually say that. It says if more children reach the "required standard" than there are places available. So for example, if they set the standard at 315, all looked after children above this score would be offered a place, then all children on free school meals, and then Newport catchment. Only at this point would the pupils not in any of the above categories be offered a place based purely on score in the test.

Will it impact scores for the last category? Difficult to say as we don't know currently how the three categories specified already score in the test. My guess would be that they would occupy more places than the current system so the entry score will increase.

Would be interested to know if this new policy is driven by the desire for a more inclusive intake, or by the extra funding that comes with LAC and FSM?
Wolves mum
Posts: 251
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 11:07 am

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Wolves mum »

Sorry Happy Dad, thats what I meant.

I'm just wondering wether to go for Thomas Telford (if offered) for DS 1 as I think DS2 would have got in to AGS by the skin of his teeth but with these new proposals I don't feel as confident.
Happy dad
Posts: 482
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:10 am

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Happy dad »

But isn't TT a bit hit and miss also? I think that so many things can change/happen that the driver should be what is best for ds1. If ds2 gets in the same school, which also suits him, then great. If not, then that is what life throws up. It will definitely be happening to me come 3March, bu I have spoken to many who say that having their children at different schools is the best thing and helps nourish the relationship between siblings.
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by KenR »

3 children living in Newport
I hope Shropshire LEA and AGS have thought carefully about this - might upset some parents living on the wrong side of the county boundary in Staffordshire on the A518

They could find themselves with appeals or the ombudsman involved regarding non compliance with the Greenwich Judgement!

Birmingham and Solihull had to tread very carefully regarding the Hall Green area of Birmingham which is adjacent to Solihull and Tudor Grange:-
Appendix 4 Catchment Areas
The Court of Appeal has expressly permitted catchment areas as an oversubscription criteria with the
following guidelines:
• The area must not be arbitrary or irrational.
• Parents from outside the catchment area must be permitted to express a preference for the
school.
• Catchment areas have to be carefully considered so that they interlock with each other and
have regard to areas of population, bus routes and safe walking distance.
• A catchment area is not unlawful just because it runs along an Local Educated Authority
boundary if the boundary of the catchment area has been carefully considered – the court
agreed that it did not make sense for pupils out of an LEA area to have priority over those in
the area but outside the catchment area.
• An admissions authority must provide clear information about the catchment area and how it
was drawn up.
This following briefing was designed to supplement the information above regarding catchment areas.
Catchment areas are a lawful means of over-subscription criteria, specifically permitted by the Schools
Admission Code of Practice. The current Code refers to the case law which established the principles in
relation to catchment areas and they are;
R v Greenwich LBC ex parte John Ball primary School (1989)
R v Rotherham MBC ex parte Clarke and others (1997)
The Greenwich judgment is authority for the proposition that an admission authority should comply with
expressed parental preferences as to the school at which they wished their children to be educated without
distinction between children resident within and outside the local authority’s area; and that an admission
policy giving priority to children within the area of the admission authority was ultra vires.
The Rotherham judgment was the result of a case brought by 3 Nottinghamshire children who challenged
Rotherham’s catchment area policy. The policy had the effect of the 3 children being refused admission to
the Rotherham school. The catchment area for the school followed the LEA boundary on its eastern side
and the parents argued that this was unlawful. Though the parents’ challenge was unsuccessful, the case is
useful for the guidelines given in relation to drawing up catchment areas:
- The area must not be arbitrary or irrational.
- Parents from outside the catchment area must be permitted to express a preference for the
school.
Catchment areas have to be carefully considered so that they interlock with each other and have
regard to areas of population, bus routes and safe walking distance.
“One cannot simply place the point to a pair of compasses on the school and
draw a circle of so many miles radius around it. If you did that with each school
you would have a series of circles, some of which overlap, so some people might
live in two or more catchment areas and some people might miss out
altogether.” (Stuart-Smith LJ)
- A catchment area is not unlawful just because it runs along an LEA boundary if the boundary of
the catchment area has been carefully considered – the court agreed that it did not make sense
for pupils out of an LEA area to have priority over those in the area but outside the catchment
area.

- An admissions authority must provide clear information about the catchment area and how it
was drawn up.
FunkyMonkey
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:03 am

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by FunkyMonkey »

Happy dad wrote:I have spoken to many who say that having their children at different schools is the best thing and helps nourish the relationship between siblings.
That is really interesting, as we could be in that position, and we actually thought the opposite would happen, that through less shared experience, they would drift apart.
Happy dad
Posts: 482
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:10 am

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Happy dad »

FunkyMonkey wrote:
Happy dad wrote:I have spoken to many who say that having their children at different schools is the best thing and helps nourish the relationship between siblings.
That is really interesting, as we could be in that position, and we actually thought the opposite would happen, that through less shared experience, they would drift apart.
We have already found that with one at GS and the other still at primary their relationship is much improved. Less bickering and falling out over spending too much time together. They now spend the time they have together much more productively. By being able to pursue their own interests and then spending time together when they want, it certainly seems to be working. Long may it continue.
resmum
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:53 pm
Location: wolverhampton

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by resmum »

I believe that Newport Girls' High already operate an inner catchment which includes postcodes around Newport (but only those in Telford and Wrekin - not in Staffordshire). Applicants from these postcodes who meet the entry standard will be admitted and the remaining places offered to applicants from elsewhere. It sees as though Adams' are trying to do something similar perhaps in response to complaints that too many boys are being shipped in from Wolves, Shrewsbury, Telford etc.
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: adams grammar admissions proposal

Post by Okanagan »

The Greenwich Judgement was that priority could not be given to certain children for the sole reason that they live within the LA’s administrative boundaries. However that doesn't preclude having a distance criteria - say resident within x miles of the school (and plenty of schools do have priority policies of that kind).

In any case the 2012 Admissions Code which postdates Greenwich probably overturns it (and there have been some adjudicator decisions to that effect), as well as the changed situation with so many schools becoming academies and thus their own admissions authorities, whereas at the time of the Greenwich judgement school admissions were all centralised with the LEAs as the admissions authorities.
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