Agenda and minutes

Agreed:- That Mrs. I. G. Hartley be appointed as Chair of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum for the 2016/2017 Academic Year.

(Mrs. I. G. Hartley in the Chair)

Further to Minute No. 13 of the meeting of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum held on 5th November, 2015, details of the current membership of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum were noted and it was agreed that every endeavour be made to fill the vacant places, including requests to the governing bodies of schools.

Further to Minute No. 23 of the meeting of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum held on 18th February, 2016, discussion took place on the submitted document setting out the terms of reference of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum.

Agreed:- That the document be received and accepted as the Local Admissions Forum’s Terms of Reference for the 2016/17 academic year.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Principal Officer (School Organisation, Admissions and Appeals) concerning the admission arrangements (ie: criteria and admission number) which would apply for school admission in the 2018/2019 academic year.

The timetable for the year is:-

Autumn Term, 2016                         governing bodies to consider the

                                                            arrangements which will apply

by 25^th November, 2016                  all relevant details to be forwarded to the

Borough Council

from 12^th December, 2016              period of consultation via the Borough

until 27^th January, 2017                  Council’s Internet web site

by mid-February, 2017                    Borough Council and the Local Admissions Forum consider any changes and forward any comments to appropriate Admission Authority(ies)

by 24^th February, 2017                    all admission authorities to determine their arrangements and notify those consulted

The report made reference to the admission criteria and numbers for both community and controlled schools and for voluntary aided schools, academies and trust schools. The Local Admissions Forum noted that the current practice of co-ordinating in-year school admissions, with neighbouring local authorities, will continue even though there is no specific statutory requirement to do so.

Included within the report were details of each school and academy’s proposed admission number for 2018/2019 (appendix two of the report submitted).

The ‘waiting lists’ which are kept for pupils’ first admission to Secondary and Primary schools will continue to be maintained only until the end of the Autumn Term.

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

(2) That a further report be submitted for approval to the next meeting of the Local Admissions Forum, detailing the outcome of the consultation process about the school admission arrangements for the 2018/19 academic year.

The Service lead (School Planning, Admission and Appeals) provided information about the progress of the following issues relating to school organisation:-

(i) Waverley new development Primary School - the process has begun to appoint a preferred Academy/Free School sponsor for the proposed new primary school within the Waverley new development. A prospectus would be published prior to the selection programme, outlining the need for the new school and also the local community overview. The short list of prospective sponsors for the Primary School will be prepared during January 2017. The eventual preferred sponsor would be recommended to the Regional Schools’ Commissioner in February, 2017, for consideration and approval.  Once formalised by the Regional Schools’ Commissioner, this Council’s Cabinet will be requested to ratify the decision. Details of the Waverley primary school proposal are available via this Internet web site link:-

www.rotherham.gov.uk/waverley/

(ii) Laughton J & I School – larger classroom sizes and Published Admission Number (PAN) increase from 24 to 30 pupils; this increase will affect each successive year’s Reception/Foundation Stage 2 intake of pupils, beginning in September 2017;

(iii) Eastwood Village Primary School – the School is full and has a waiting list of pupils for the Reception/Foundation Stage 2 year group; this Primary School will not have a Year 6 cohort of pupils until the 2017/18 academic year;

(iv) the closing date for applications for Year 7 (secondary school) places, for the 2017/2018 academic year, is 30th November, 2016;

(v) Information was provided about the school admission appeals which had taken place during the period April to October, 2016; there continued to be considerable pressure upon Reception/Foundation Stage 2 year groups; in addition, a number of complex appeal cases have been dealt with, involving officers from various agencies; all schools now subscribe to the admission appeals service provided by the Local Authority.

Agreed:- That the information be noted.

Further to Minute No. 29 of the meeting of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum held on 18th February, 2016, discussion took place on the progress of Rotherham’s Primary and Secondary School’s Fair Access Protocol.  It was noted that the Fair Access Panel for Primary Schools had been required to meet on only one occasion during the past two years.  The Fair Access Panel for Secondary Schools has regular meetings once in each School Half Term.

Agreed:- That the information about the Fair Access Protocol be noted.

The current list of academy schools (as at October, 2016) in the Rotherham Borough area was distributed and its contents noted.

Consideration was given to the proposed calendar of Term dates and holidays, for the 2018/2019 academic year, for community and voluntary controlled primary, secondary and special schools.

It was noted that the forthcoming consultation about the School Term dates will include Councillors, school governing bodies, trades unions and other stakeholders. One proposed option was the permanent placement of the two weeks’ Easter holidays during April, which might sometimes not include Good Friday, Easter Sunday nor Easter Monday (the three latter days sometimes being set in March and sometimes in April).

It was confirmed that the consultation process would include all four principal local authorities in South Yorkshire, in order to try and standardise holiday dates throughout the County. Other neighbouring local authorities responsible for education services were also notified of proposals.

The Local Admissions Forum also noted that faith schools and academies might choose to make separate arrangements for their term dates, although in the past they had chosen to align the dates with those of the Local Authority.

Agreed:- That the submitted information about the proposed calendar of School Term dates and holidays, for the 2018/2019 academic year, be noted and the Local Admissions Forum be informed in due course of the outcome of the consultation process.

Thursday, 16th February, 2017 commencing at 10.00 a.m.

Thursday, 6th July, 2017 commencing at 10.00 a.m.

Agreed:- (1) That the next meeting of the Rotherham Local Admissions Forum be held at the Town Hall, Rotherham on Thursday, 16th February, 2017, commencing at 10.00 a.m.

(2) That a further meeting of this Forum take place on Thursday, 8th June, 2017.