Agenda and minutes

Agreed:-  That Mrs. I. Hartley be appointed Chair of this meeting.

(Mrs. I. Hartley in the Chair)

Agreed;-  That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Local Admissions Forum held on 15^th December, 2011, be approved as a correct record.

(1)  With regard to Minute 14 (Free Schools), a letter had been received on 23^rd February, 2012, from the Under Secretary for Schools confirming that the request from Rotherham Centre Free School had been turned down so would not be proceeding to the next stage.

(2)  With regard to Minute No. 16 (Children and Young People’s Service Restructuring), it was noted that the restructuring had been completed.

(3)  With regard to Minute No. 18 (School Admissions Code and Appeal Code) it was noted that a briefing paper had been prepared for the Learning Communities representative setting out all the key aspects of the changes in the new Code and Appeals Code.

Agreed:-  That the briefing paper be circulated to members of this Forum for information.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Helen Barre, Service Manager, School Admissions, Organisation and SEN Assessment Service, concerning the admission arrangements (ie: criteria and admission number) which would apply for school admission in the 2013/2014 academic year. The report summarised the issues which had arisen during the annual consultation exercise with and between schools, other local authorities and via the Borough Council’s Internet website. It was noted that all admission authorities were required to determine their arrangements by 15th April, 2012.

Agreed:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the proposed admission numbers (contained in Annex 1 of the report submitted) for community and controlled schools be confirmed for 2013/14, subject to the clarifications included in Annex 2.

(3) That the proposed admissions criteria for community and controlled schools for 2013/14 be agreed and adopted.

(4) That the proposed admissions numbers and criteria for voluntary aided schools and Academies, as outlined in Annex 2 of the report submitted, be noted.

(5)  That a summary of the information contained in the Admissions Booklet be sent to parents with full copies available on request and/or via the Rotherham.gov.uk website.

(6) That the appropriate notice be published in respect of the proposed admission numbers for the schools named in Annex 2 of the report submitted, where the admission number will be less than that indicated by the current net capacity calculation.

Consideration was given to a report containing statistics of the number of school admission appeals received and hearings that had taken place from September, 2010-August, 2011 and September, 2011-August, 2012.

It was noted that at the present time, there were only 3 of the 12 secondary schools in the local authority that were oversubscribed – Wath, Wickersley and St. Bernard’s.

Concern was raised about the number of developments in the Dearne Valley and the future impact on schools in the area.  It was reported that meetings were to be held with EDS, School Effectiveness Service, Admissions Team and Information Policy Team to pull together projections for the future.

Agreed: (1)  That the information be received.

(2)  That future reports contain separate statistics for the Academies.

Further to Minute No. 15 of the meeting held on 15^th December, consideration was given to the Forum’s membership.

The following was noted:-

-        Father Hayne (Voluntary Aided School representative) had now retired

-        Mrs. H. Morris (representing Sheffield Diocese) was retiring in July

-        Initial discussion had taken place with the Chair of the Parents Forum

-        Proposal that Mr. G. Lancashire be moved from Community representative to Voluntary Aided School.

Agreed:-  That continued efforts be made to fill the vacancies.

Helen Barre, Service Manager, School Admissions, Organisation and SEN Assessment Service, gave the following update:-

-        Thornhill Primary School – Expansion approved and increased numbers from September, 2012

-        Flanderwell Primary School – approval received from Cabinet Member to proceed to pre-statutory consultation phase which would close on 5^th April, 2012.  Meetings were to be held with staff, parents, Governing Body and Governing Bodies of the schools affected.  A report would then be submitted to the Cabinet Member on 24^th April proposing the formal stage of publishing the Statutory Notice for 6 weeks for objections.  If approved, the implementation date would be September, 2013

-        Maltby Hall Infant and Lilly Hall Junior Schools Amalgamation – planning permission had been approved on 13^th March.  The pre-statutory consultation would take place after Easter.  Amalgamation would be from September, 2013

-        St. Bernard’s Catholic High – confirmation received that had been approved for Academy status but no date as yet

-        Approaches by a number of secondary schools about bringing forward the Y6 transition to their secondary school.  Y11 students left on the last working day of June so they wanted Y6 pupils to start early to enable familiarisation with their new setting before the new term started.  This had a number of implications not least ensuring Y6 parents fully understood the implications of this move

Agreed:-  That the report be noted.

Agreed:-  That a further meeting be held on Thursday, 5th July, 2012 at 10.00 a.m.