Admissions Regulations
To receive a presentation from Lorraine Butcher
Minutes:
Barbara Dale, School Organisation and Admissions Manager attended the meeting and gave a presentation on the legislation, codes of practice and local arrangements in respect of School Admissions.
Cheshire East had designed a co-ordinated admissions policy which ensured equity and fair access to school places and to protect the rights of all parents and carers and their children.
Two codes were in existence which imposed mandatory requirements and guidelines. One code related to the application process and the other to the appeal process. The admission code did not just apply to the Local authority but to any body concerned with admission to schools, which included:
The Admission code provided the legal framework for the Council, but it was for the Council itself to formulate policy.
Any changes to local admission arrangements were subject to consultation and included amongst other things, oversubscription criteria.
Legislation prescribed that infant class size contained a maximum of 30 pupils per school teacher, and any breach of the regulation required qualifying measures to be put in place which could include reorganisation of classes, employment of an additional teacher, or organising additional accommodation.
The timetable for the admission process contained a number of statutory dates beginning on 12 September for the publication of information ‘booklets’ and ending on 7 July, the deadline for secondary appeals.
The Council monitored compliance with the code and the overall impact of arrangements in their area for fair access.
The Council also was required to submit to the Schools adjudicator an annual report.
An admissions forum monitored the effectiveness and equity of local admission arrangements with the right of objection and right to report annually
The Schools adjudicator in turn reported annually to the Secretary of State on how fairly access was being achieved locally.
Barbara informed the Committee that the Council managed to satisfy 94% of parents by providing places in their first choice school and that annually the Council dealt with approximately 4,000 applications each at primary and secondary level. On average there were 2 appeals per week throughout a year, although during peak periods such as September of this year, it was expected that 18 appeals would be heard. Annually, approximately 400 appeals were lodged.
RESOLVED – That the presentation be received.